Axe to the Heart
by wikelia
Summary: Astrid Hofferson/Steve Harrington. "Maybe I hate a lot of things here in Hawkins but I suppose you're not one of them." {Not an OC, a character from another fandom}.
1. Chapter 1

"Hey! Watch where you're going, Harringt - what the hell happened to your face?"

Astrid didn't know Steve Harrington. But, she reasoned with herself, if anyone came up with a dozen bandages on their face looking as though they'd been to hell and back, she'd ask about it. It had nothing to do with the person in particular.

"Who are you?" he replied back in a smarmy manner, and then she decided niceties be damned. He knew very well who she was because they were in at least three classes together, and Astrid volunteered in every class, no matter what it was. So if he wanted to be sassy, then he could go screw himself, for all she cared.

So Astrid gave him the middle finger and kept walking. The idiot had probably ran that mouth on someone and gotten beaten for it. She had a class to get to, worrying about King Steve's precious face was the least of her worries.

Still, for some reason, it was just a little unsettling to see someone completely beat up.

Astrid spent the class lost in her thoughts. And they weren't about his bloody effing face, most of it was about other stuff. Like, the news about Barbara Holland's death.

That had been unsettling. A gas leak from Hawkins Lab? As if the building wasn't mysterious enough, they had also covered up her death. And Will Byers' death as well - she knew her parents had attended the funeral, as a show for being involved with the community. Astrid had felt horribly mad at them, because they didn't care one bit for the supposedly dead child and yet they had the nerve to show up at his house. She, despite not knowing Will Byers or anyone from his family, was really glad when he turned out to be alive.

That Hawkins Lab was a wreck. She was glad it was getting shut down.

The next surprising event of the day was when she saw Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers sitting together. Huh. Maybe the bruises had come from some alpha male fight over Nancy. It seemed typical enough.

And then it was just regular high school business as normal.

She ran into Steve Harrington again as he went into the gym and she left it - no one knew how good she was at basketball but that didn't stop her from playing it when the gym was empty and she was free. He was actually on the team and they both scowled when they collided once more.

"Do you get off on not looking where you're going?" Astrid snapped, glaring at him.

He scoffed, staring her down. "I'm not looking? Please, Hofferson, you had a glazed look the first time and it hasn't gone away. Dreaming about homework again?"

The only thought that passed through her mind was a triumphant realization that he did know who she was. "Better than dreaming about a girl who decided the photography nerd was cooler."

A look of hurt passed through his face as Astrid kept walking, and she felt a small amount of guilt. Heartbreak wasn't funny, she would know.

But Astrid just wasn't that good at saying sorry, and so she just kept going until she was out of the school.

One other thing that had occupied her mind all day had been her internship that was starting today. The dream of growing up to be a badass female cop had been with her since she was a girl and now she was finally on the path. Interning with the police chief of Hawkins was a huge deal. And if she worked hard enough, she could probably secure a job.

Hopefully it would be out of Indiana, though. Maybe...maybe when she was old enough...she could just go back to Berk. Maybe.

Astrid got herself to stop. Wistful thinking wouldn't do her any good. Hard work would. She arrived at the police station ready, ready to solve crime and take down bad guys.

Only to be disappointed when Chief Jim Hopper asked her to do paperwork.

Okay. It was no biggie. She had to work her way up. And really, it was Hawkins. Even if she had moved here only a few months ago, she knew nothing that exciting ever happened.

She did the paperwork. And she did a remarkable job, as Florence, the secretary, told her. It was...an averagely okay day.

She'd make it better soon enough.

Her mother and father weren't home when she got there. Astrid made herself a chicken and mayo sandwich, did her homework, took a shower, and layed down in her oversized bed.

Her parents were probably at another social event. Probably wanted to flaunt about with their money a little more. Whatever. Who cared if she couldn't brag about her good grades to anyone in this damn town?

Instead of falling asleep, another vision of Steve Harrington's kicked puppy face swam into her mind, and Astrid groaned into her pillow.

He had started it, insinuating that she dreamed about homework. That had only happened a few times, and it wasn't her fault that chemistry was really interesting those few days. So why did she feel guilty?

Because if anyone had said something along the lines of what she said to Harrington back when her and Hiccup had broken up, she would have killed them. It hurt. And it was cruel to kick someone when they were down. Which he definitely was, judging by the rainbow bandages.

Oh, but she was not going to apologize. She'd spoken all of three sentences to the prick, he had probably forgotten what she said to him in five minutes tops, and now she wanted to say sorry? Just who did Steve Harrington think he was, making her consider saying sorry to his stupid face? He was bad business. He was a jerk, a bully, a…

Now was not the time to realize that most of what she thought about him came from hearsay. Girls at the school either swooned about him, leading her to think he was a player, or they hated him because apparently he backstabbed his friends and whatnot.

Why. Did. It. Matter. To. Her.

Nope. It didn't. She was gonna sleep, and when she woke up, school and her internship would be the only things on her mind.

But one last thought tugged at her as she drowned into her pillow, and it was that he was the only one besides her who had sat alone at lunch that day.

 **If...if I continue this it'll probably just be different stuff instead of one storyline. Anyway, I just thought about this pairing today and I really like it.**


	2. Chapter 2

The next few days became worse and worse. She did nothing but paperwork at the station, the only one who really acknowledged her there was Florence (who said to call her Flo), school was getting tougher by the day (what could she expect, it was senior year), and for some Thorforsaken fucking reason, Steve Harrington was still walking around like someone killed his cat (honestly, what a drama queen).

And Astrid hated the gut feeling she had that paperwork was all she'd ever do in her life, her grades would find a way to mess up eventually, and that she was the one who murdered the fucking kitten.

She was working her ass off to try to get past the first two problems. She could not let her grades slip, or her parents would take an interest in her, but not in a good way. And maybe, just maybe, she'd get Chief Hopper's seal of approval.

The Steve Harrington thing she could just forget. Right? Right?

Wrong. Apparently, fate was working against her.

"Byers and Campbell, Harrington and Hofferson, Jackson and Brown…"

Everything, Astrid decided as she saw Harrington coming towards her, was shit. Her teacher, and this project in general were part of that everything.

Harrington dropped his bag and slumped in the chair next to her, before looking at her expectantly. She bit back a grimace and shifted her seat closer.

"I hope you know what we're doing, Hofferson, because I have no clue what the hell she just said."

Astrid snorted despite herself. Typical.

"We need to choose any Shakespearean work and act out a five minute scene of something we believed should have happened. That was the basic stuff. Everything else was her telling us in fancy terms how much she'd love to fail us if we screwed this up."

"Wow, I didn't know you spoke Shakespeare." He flashed a grin at her, and Astrid bit her lip to stop a sigh of relief from escaping her.

He didn't hold hard feelings - whatever he was upset about had nothing to do with her.

But then, maybe that was worse. Now she felt even more guilty, because he didn't hold a grudge. Couldn't he just hate her and get on with it?

"So, when do you want to meet up to plan this thing?"

Astrid thought about what she had remembered last night. For someone who was dubbed a king, he sure didn't have that many friends. Since she'd been here she'd only seen him sitting with Nancy Wheeler, but yesterday, Nancy had sat with Jonathan, and Astrid had seen Harrington sitting by himself. There wasn't any need for him to - half the girls in the school would be more than willing to help him move on.

But what the hell. They might as well just spend the period together. She certainly didn't have anyone vying for her attention.

"Why don't we do it at lunch?" Then, to clear it up lest he think she watched him while she ate, she quickly said, "If you're not too busy."

"Nah. I'm not. You know...too busy dreaming about girls who like photography nerds." He shot her a smirk. Asshole. "I'll find you there, then?" Harrington extended a hand.

He still looked like a fucking wreck. Astrid shook his hand and they didn't say anymore to each other for the last five minutes of class.

They could have planned right then, but honestly...Astrid was looking forward to not sitting alone at lunch, and when she threw a quick glance to Harrington who was smiling at his phone, she thought he might be too.

* * *

"So…"

"So."

"Why don't we choose a book?" Astrid suggested, taking out her notebook and pencil. "We've read - well, I've read - most of them."

"Hey," Harrington cut in, looking affronted, "I've read them too. I've read...Romeo and Juliet. Oh, and Macbeth."

"Hamlet? Midsummer Night's Dream? Julius Caesar?" Astrid raised a brow at him as she listed some of her favorites (there was a reason she was in Shakespearean Literature and it wasn't because she needed the credits).

"Maybe we could stick to Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth?" he asked, looking hopeful. Astrid nearly laughed - but she caught herself.

"Fine. Any ideas?" She bent down, ready to write. They could probably jot down notes and maybe even start a script by the end of the period.

"Not a one."

Astrid snapped her head up and blew her bangs out of her face as she stared at him. "Okay, so I'll be doing the work. Whatever. Just practice your lines when I give you them." She stood up with her tray, taking her things in the other hand (and realized she really should have put her things in her bag before she stood up. She blamed Harrington and his floofy hair for distracting her).

"Hey, hey, no, I'll help!" He stood up so quickly and with such wide eyes that Astrid relented (she relented? She relented? Just when the fuck was the last time she relented to anyone?) and sat down. Harrington sat back down as well, looking satisfied. "Okay, so I think we should do Romeo and Juliet. It's everyone's favorite."

"But if it's everyone's favorite, everyone will be doing it. Maybe we should go with Macbeth." She leaned back before realizing there was no wall behind her.

Okay, whatever this new idiotic side of her was, it needed to stop popping up in front of Steve fucking Harrington. First she had the gall to feel guilty, and now she was doing dumb stuff like relenting - if she didn't look out she might start joking around with him.

"What scene could we add to Macbeth?"

"What scene could we add to Romeo and Juliet?" Astrid shot back. If he said that they should show the sex scene in greater detail then Thor help him, she would murder him.

"Maybe a scene with the parents mourning. You could be Lady Capulet and I'd be Lord Montague since Lady Montague died."

It...wasn't a bad idea. It was okay. More than she expected.

"Okay…" She wrote the idea down. "Mourning parents. I can work with that."

"We can work with that," Harrington insisted, leaning forward and reading her notes upside down. "You know, Lady Capulet really suits you."

Astrid looked up at him. There was a small smile on his face and testily she asked, "Why do you say that?"

He shook his head, seemingly holding back a laugh. "Lady Capulet was stuffy as hell, you'd play her really well."

Astrid glared at him, stuffed her notebook and pencil in her bag (ha, she thought ahead this time), and stood up, storming away from him.

Five people. Five people in the whole world were allowed to make fun of her about her personality...her "stuffiness." And Harrington wasn't one of those five people. So he could go screw himself.

"Hey...hey!"

She ignored him, leaving the lunch room even though she heard whispers. Astrid didn't want anyone whispering about her, but if she turned around and snapped at him in front of everyone, whispers would be the least of her problems.

It was when she stopped at her locker that Harrington caught up with her. "Okay. I'm sorry. Be Montague. Lady Montague, that is. We can bring her back from the dead. Sorry."

"You don't need to apologize," Astrid snarled - could he let her be irritated with him in piece? - as she shoved her bag in the locker and took out what she would need for the next period. "Tell me I'm being a drama queen and go away."

"Hey, I'm the queen of drama queens." He peered at her and gave her a charming grin (which, damn it all to hell, was pretty charming). "Just don't stop talk - uh, brainstorming with me. Please? I just...really wanna work hard to get this grade."

What the hell was wrong with him? Usually guys called her out for being a bitch or being dramatic, which she usually was. On purpose. The only guy who hadn't done that who she'd been romantically involved with was Hiccup, and no one was like him. Certainly not King Steve.

Astrid slammed her locker shut and looked up at him (she blamed his hair for the extra foot he had on her). "Don't call me stuffy again."

"Won't." He looked completely serious. "Definitely...will not. At all. Um...I don't think we should go back to the cafeteria because there are people who saw us leave -"

"Yeah, thanks for that, Romeo."

" - Welcome, Lady Montague. Hey, maybe we should have that instead! A scene between Romeo and his mom where they talk some stuff out."

Astrid shook her head, hiding her smile as she hugged her books close to her chest. Well, that was strange. All the anger had evaporated. But he had called her stuffy. And he wasn't allowed to.

But it wasn't as though she was suddenly close to him, it was just nice to...talk to someone like this again. Like a friend.

"Next."

"A scene between Nurse and some random cook and we just make it pure comedy."

"Next!"

"Secretly Paris was having an affair with Paris from the Iliad."

 _"Next!"_

 **I have never written a second chapter this quickly, do you need any more proof that this ship owns my body and soul now?**


	3. Chapter 3

Without anyone noticing, Astrid grabbed the file from Chief Hopper's desk and took it to the bathroom. It looked exciting enough, and maybe she could find a way to help without revealing that she borrowed the file. Then he'd take her seriously, instead of just nodding to her everyday and giving her a thousand papers to sort.

But as she realized as she opened the file, it was of a case that was already solved.

Barbara Holland. Why had she seen the chief looking through it so intently then? Good memories or something?

Astrid flipped through the different pages, until she got to a newspaper clipping that read, in big letters "BARBARA HOLLAND MISSING?"

This one must have been published before the news about the gas leak had come out. The next few all said something about her running away, and then about the bear. Thor, the lab really had tried to cover this up. What jerks.

The next thing that came up was a picture that was hanging together with tape. She peered at it with squinted eyes. It was Barbara, wasn't it? She was sitting at a pool. Why had this picture been torn apart? And why was it…

Astrid peered just a little closer, and then she saw it.

There was someone….something behind Barbara. And it was huge. It was looming behind her like it was going to sneak up and -

"Astrid! Astrid, where'd you go?" Flo's voice rang out in the bathroom, and the blonde jumped, taking a deep breath.

"I'm in here, Flo! Sorry, um...school lunch, you know. It does this."

"Oh, sorry, dear. You want some medicine?" Her shoes could be seen outside the stall. Astrid hugged the file close to her chest.

"No! No - I'm fine, please, just give me a minute."

"Well, alright, just let me know if you need something." With that, she left the bathroom.

Huh. Tuffnut would be proud with the amount of class she pulled that lie off with.

Astrid looked at the photo, and, biting her lip, folded it up carefully, and tucked it in her pocket. Then, swiftly, she left the bathroom, returned the file to Hopper's desk, finished her paperwork, and left the station without anyone the wiser.

The picture seemed to burn in her pocket.

* * *

After skipping dinner but not homework (because never homework), she sat down with the picture to look over it again. Maybe someone was wearing a mask? It didn't look like a bear, or like any creature she knew, for that matter.

Hiccup was the animal lover. Maybe she could show him this when they saw each other again.

Before that, she could start by figuring out whose pool this was.

There was...something very off about a "gas leak" now. Maybe it was just another attempt to cover things up.

Despite the wrongness of the situation, Astrid's cheeks had turned pink from the sudden rush she was feeling. This. This was what she wanted to do with her life.

There was a loud banging on the window. Her head snapped up and she saw Harrington, with maybe a thousand and one leaves in his hair, balancing precariously on a branch that probably wasn't stable. Despite all that and the red in his cheeks from exertion, he was grinning.

She ran over and opened the window, tugging him in quickly. "What the ever loving -"

"You dared me!" he said, crossing his arms. "Remember? You said I was bluffing about my ninja skills -"

"That doesn't equate to a dare, Harrington!"

"Oh, you're just mopey because I proved you wrong."

"Showing up with two million leaves in your hair does not -" Astrid shut the window. " - prove me wrong."

He scoffed, taking the script on her desk before sitting on her bed. "I just need to memorize the last page. Tomorrow, I'll be able to do it without looking."

She shot him a light smile when he wasn't looking. Harrington had actually been coming through with the project. He'd memorize a little more each day, and they still had two weeks to go. By this rate, they'd pull off a perfect performance on the day of the performance, December 15th.

"From the top, then." She sat down in front of him and started it. True to his word, Harrington didn't look at the paper until the last one came around. They sounded dramatic enough (but then, weren't they both self proclaimed drama queens?).

"Good." Astrid nodded affirmatively after they finished, her mind travelling back to the picture that was still in her hand. She was just resisting looking at it. But then, hey, Harrington was King Steve, right? If anyone knew whose pool it was, he did. "Hey, Harrington -"

"Nope, I don't want water." He stood up and went to the door. "But can I have those -"

"Yeah, you can have the spicy chips. But wait, I wanted to ask you something." Astrid grabbed his hand before he left. Harrington flinched just slightly, but she didn't comment. "Do you know whose pool this is?"

She showed him the picture, and his eyes went wide. He snatched the picture from her as fast as a cheetah, and she saw his arm was trembling a little.

"Where did you get this?" Harrington murmured, looking up at her. "Hofferson, where did you get this?"

Astrid raised a brow, brushing her fingers through her hair. "Why? You know where it is?"

"Doesn't matter." He sneaked a glance at the window. "Wherever you got it, just put it back. Don't -"

"Why? What's so bad about this picture?" She snatched it back from him. "Listen, I think I'm onto something. Barbara Holland might not have died by a gas leak. I think she might have been murdered!"

"It was a gas leak, okay?" Harrington took a deep breath. "Please, just trust me on this. It was a gas leak."

"It wasn't a -"

"It was!"  
"How would you know?" Astrid shouted, throwing her hands in air.

He had been fine just a few seconds ago and now it was as if she had personally shown him Barbara's dead body. It wasn't that alarming - maybe a little creepy, but…

He took the picture again and pushed her against the wall by her shoulders. "Hofferson - Astrid. Listen to me. I knew her. She wasn't a careful person. She went too close to the lab and the gas leak killed her."

"Get...off me," Astrid shoved him away by the chest, "this picture was in the police chief's office, in a file. If it was a gas leak, then why would he need this picture? And why would someone try to rip it up unless they were trying to conceal evidence?" He ran a hand through his hair exasperatedly as she went on, "It doesn't make sense, Harrington!"

"Listen, listen, listen. Astrid." He cupped her face and stroked her cheek with his thumb urgently. "You're kind of the only person in the school who tolerates me and who I can tolerate. So just...just do me a favor and put the damn picture back. Please. Don't get involved."

"Involved with what?" She stared into his stupidly nice brown eyes and tried to read his expression to find an answer, but there was just borderline panic.

"Don't get involved," he said again, shaking his head. "I know we've just been friends - hell, if you can even call it that - we've been acquaintances for like a week. And there's some stuff that you shouldn't know. Some stuff that'll mess this all up, and we probably won't be friends by the end of it unless we have shared trauma or something like that, I don't know. Leave it alone. Please? Please?"

They stared at each other for a good few seconds, with Harrington breathing heavily. He was looking at her with some sort of desperation, he was begging.

And Astrid found herself wanting to relent again.

No. This was absolutely ridiculous. She would do whatever she wanted, Steve Harrington and his hair and his eyes be damned. She wasn't going to start listening to some boy just because him being so close was clouding her fucking thoughts.

"I'll put the picture back," she lied quietly. "I'll stop looking into this." Another lie.

Harrington took a shaky breath and leaned back, resting against the wall. Okay. He was tricked.

She took the picture from him and tossed it on the desk. Tomorrow she'd take a good look at it. When he was gone.

"Thank you."

"Whatever."

"I swear I would tell you...if I could."

"Whatever," Astrid said again, more forcefully. "Forget it."

Harrington looked at her oddly, before running a hand through his hair (which he definitely didn't need to do) and letting out a sigh of relief. She sat down, her gaze falling to the floor.

"You can get the spicy chips from the closet if you want."

"No," he mumbled, "not in the mood anymore. Can I get water?"

"Yeah, sure." Astrid stood up, but he waved her off, going out and down the stairs to get it himself.

They would go over the script one more time, and then she'd call it a night and send him home (out the door like a normal person).

This whole business with Steve Harrington was tiring her out, a lot more than she cared to admit.


	4. Chapter 4

**We now interrupt to bring you: Steve and Astrid going to a party.**

"If you think," Astrid huffed, pointing at the house from the car, "that I am going to waste ten years of dancing levels on that, then you've got another thing coming."

Harrington turned to give her a deadpan look. "How did you think people acted at parties?"

"Well, like wild animals. I have been to parties like this, but you asked me to dance. I am not dancing for this kind of event."

Wild animals was an understatement. People were howling, taking off their clothes, and doing the most inappropriate dances she'd ever seen. Then there was a group of people cheering on someone to chug a bottle of beer. There were also two people climbing the house.

And this was all inside.

It was like a Thorston party. And she was being a real Fishlegs.

Maybe she shouldn't have come. Lately so many things had been reminding her of the gang. A party - a wickedly wild party - as just the scratch on the bruise.

"I don't wanna go."

"I'm not that fond of parties anymore either," he muttered, peering out the window.

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Then why did you show up at my house at on a Saturday afternoon and eagerly tell my mom of all people that you were gonna take me out?"

"Oh, my bad." Harrington turned to her and grinned. "I forgot you were already having a spectacular time holed up in there."

"I was doing homework, Harrington." She levelled a gaze on him and he raised a brow at her, still grinning.

"You did all your homework yesterday."

"Screw you."

He turned back to look outside the window. "You wish, Astrid, you wish."

Astrid grunted and opened the door, stepping out. If they were going to go to a party, they weren't going to just participate by watching the whole damn time. She walked in with Steve running after her, and inside was…

Suffocation. Chaos. Party, party, party.

Astrid turned around to leave as Harrington caught her in his arms. "Hey, you came in, you can't leave now. Someone's spotted you for sure, do you want social suicide?"

"I'm the new girl," she stressed, "social suicide is my my most humble subject."

"Okay, what about social murder? Social genocide? Social war?"

"You are ridiculous," Astrid told him with an unbelieving smile as they fought through the masses to claim a spot. A few people - guys and girls alike - winked at both of them as they went by, although neither of them made any move to respond. Still some positive attention.

There was a little bit of empty space near the kitchen counter, but before her and Harrington could claim the spot, three other guys did. One of them, she knew, was Billy Hargrove. And the other thing she knew of him was that he was most definitely after the whole king title.

"Back off, Harrington, or the whooping you faced yesterday at practice is just the start."

Astrid raised a brow as Harrington - Steve fucking Harrington - simply said, "Yeah, whatever," and grabbed her hand as they went away. She broke free of his grip (easily) and whistled to Billy before giving him the middle finger.

"What are you doing?" Harrington slid his arms around her waist and pushed her against the wall. "You can't just -"

"One, what is with you and pushing me against the wall whenever I do something that you don't like? She rolled her eyes and looked up. "And two, he was being a dick and you were doing nothing about it, so I did. You're welcome."

He leaned forward, their foreheads nearly touching. "Billy is dangerous, okay? He…" Harrington got even closer, so now their lips were nearly touching as well - and fuck, that was not what she should be focusing on. "He abuses his little sister."

Astrid's eyes went wide. "What?"

"Or at least he did. She scared him off pretty bad, from what I heard. It was with...with a bat." He had a sort of proud smile on his face. "But he's still dangerous. He can throw a punch."

Astrid gasped and smacked his chest gently as she realized something important. "You got those bruises from him, didn't you? The ones you had before -"

"Shh." Harrington pressed his hand over her mouth and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Yeah. But no need to spread that around."

Now that she was looking over his shoulder (his face was practically buried in her neck, dear Thor), she could see Hargrove looking over at them. "Those bruises were really bad, Harrington. Why didn't you tell anyone?"

She could feel him smiling against her skin. "I'm telling you. And you know something, I think you care."

Astrid felt a smile grow on her face (he had that horribly annoying habit of making her smile, what was up with that?) and she shook her head gently. "Yeah, whatever, don't let it go to your head."

A few more seconds passed, and then she pat his back. "Any reason you're still cuddling up to me like a kitty cat?"

"I want attention?"

She rolled her eyes for the hundredth time and leaned back, keeping a watchful eye on Hargrove.

The week after she had found the photo had been exciting, to say the least. She had started taking different roads to school and back and was checking out different pools and houses. There had been no real match yet, but she was confident she'd find it.

The station was still boring and school was still getting harder, but on the upside, Harrington was still coming by every night to read through their lines and they could both now recite them to perfection, hand gestures and all. They could be real life mourning parents with their act. Astrid was proud.

And even besides the project, hanging out with him was...fun. They had not yet talked about anything too deep (which was a relief) but they still about anything else. Maybe it was a little nice. Maybe he was a right dick sometimes but then, so was she. Maybe it made sense that two people who dealt with heartbreak and had a history of being popular would be drawn to each other (even if he knew about neither of those things and most of what she knew was speculation).

"That's a lot of beer," she commented, and it was at that Harrington stopped his damn nuzzling and looked in the same direction as her. "Like, my parents level of a lot."

"Do they drink a lot?"

"What? Oh, no. They just keep a ton of beer for when they hold parties."

Harrington frowned at the beer. "Do you want some? I'll get you -"

"Hell no. I can't handle it most of the time." She shook her head. "Two cups and I'll be spilling most of my secrets to you."

He laughed, turning to her (and looking very relieved). "Oh, then we should definitely -"

"Hey, Harrington!" Hargrove called out from the other side of the room. "Just cause your ass can't dance doesn't mean you gotta keep the lady away too!"

"Oh, fuck him," Astrid hissed before Harrington could do anything. She grabbed his hand and dragged him near everyone else, and then threw her arms in the air and tried not to wince as she ignored years of dance classes. She spun around, she waved her arms - the gang would be shocked if they saw her doing this.

"I thought you weren't gonna dance?" Harrington asked, loud but still barely reaching her ears.

Astrid scoffed, taking his arm and manipulating it to twirl herself. "I didn't recall you mentioning there'd be asshats here that would challenge me and imply that you could keep me from doing anything."

He laughed again, and when she caught his gaze, there was a kind of admiration there, and he was grinning broadly as though seeing her dancing like an idiot was the highlight of his day.

Astrid looked away, her cheeks burning all of a sudden. Guys had been flirting with her since they learned what flirting was, so it made absolutely no sense that it was a look from a dumb boy was setting her face on fire.

Fucking feelings.

 **Are they moving fast? Yeah, because I'm not in the mood to write slow burn, plus they're not romantically involved yet. Not to mention I'm skipping days. At any rate they're both idiots who are bad at dealing with feelings and Astrid isn't letting this story move slowly - she's got a mind of her own when I write her.**


	5. Chapter 5

She had found the pool in the picture.

Astrid had been walking home after the internship, and she'd seen Harrington in his car going down a road, probably just coming from basketball practice. She hadn't explored it yet, so she followed the car to the best of her abilities (it had nothing to do with Harrington himself), and although she lost the car, she had stumbled upon the pool.

She hurriedly took the picture out of her pocket and gazed at the area in front of her. It was a match, except that the pool was now covered because Hawkins was moving into cold weather. It was an exact match, and Astrid closed her eyes for a second when she imagined Barbara sitting there, alone, scared…

Now if she just find out whose house it was, then the case would really take off.

Astrid crept closer, peering from behind a tree, and then she froze as the back door slid open, and out walked Steve Harrington in a wool jacket and a trash bag in his hand.

A shiver that wasn't from the cold passed down her spine and she put a hand over her mouth as an involuntary gasp escaped. It was...it was his house. It was Harrington's house.

He didn't want her to know whose house it was because it was his fucking house. He had kept this from her to protect himself, not her. All that bullshit about her not getting "involved" was just that...bullshit.

Astrid turned on her heel and ran. Her shoulder bag collided with her knee as she panted. There were just trees everywhere and she didn't remember which way she had come from -

\- It was his house it was his house it was his house -

A quiet but menacing growl reached her ears, and she whipped around to see…

Nothing.

Another growl. She turned. Nothing.

"Hello?"

It took Astrid a few seconds to realize that she was trembling, and she had been since she saw Harrington come out his house - his fucking house.

The woods seemed terrifying even though it wasn't completely dark yet. Another growl.

It had come from the tree she was standing in front of. Or, more accurately, from behind it.

She inched closer, her fist clutching the picture tightly, until…

She was slowly looking up to a hideous creature, which had a face that was only a mouth, and was a few feet taller than her. For two seconds, she couldn't move.

Then it opened its mouth and showed its teeth, and Astrid screamed louder than she ever had in her life, and she was running backwards because oh god that was definitely the thing in the picture and it was going to kill her she was going to die just like Barbara and oh god oh god oh god she was dead she'd never see her parents again and she'd never see Harrington again and she'd never see the gang again -

"Astrid!"

Arms were enveloping around her and pulling her into something firm and that was when she let out a heaving sob. Or maybe it was another scream. She couldn't tell which way or the other.

"Astrid, what are you doing out here - what happened?"

She shook her head. It was Harrington's voice and so it must be Harrington who was holding her and his sweater was comfy but it was his pool and his house -

"Get off!" she shrieked, physically pushing him back. Now that she had opened her eyes again and looked in the direction the creature had been, but saw nothing. It was gone.

But that didn't change the fact that it was Harrington's pool that Barbara had been sitting at.

"You - you…" She felt tears trickling down her cheeks (so the creature thought it could get away with being terrifying enough to make her cry, another point against it) and angrily wiped them off. "It's your pool."

Harrington's face went from utter confusion, to absolute panic. "I told you to...I told you to drop it, Astrid! You - fuck, you still have the picture." He gazed at it still firmly clutched in her hand. "I cannot believe -"

"Barbara…" Astrid swallowed. "You had something to do with her death...you and that...thing…"

His head snapped in her direction so quickly she was surprised it didn't snap. "What thing?"

Astrid's eyes shut for a second as she imagined it, standing in front of her, opening its mouth, ready to kill -

"This thing," she spat, pointing at the picture, "it killed her, didn't it? And you…"

Harrington scoffed, nodding in a condescending way. "Oh yeah. Oh yeah, I totally covered it up. In fact, no, it covered up for me. That shit eating monster didn't have anything to do with it. I killed her, didn't I? She was at my house so I killed her. Jesus, it's like I don't get a say in the matter of who I do or don't kill." He looked down and up again. "You're just like Nancy."

If it was supposed to be an insult, she didn't understand it. Astrid brushed past him, now with a less clouded it not more clear head, and ran out of the forest.

And she didn't stop running until she was at her house with the door locked, safe in her room. She threw the picture on the table and took out another one from her drawer, a much different one.

It was her. And then gang. And they were happy.

Astrid was crying again. She pressed the picture close to her chest and felt it heave.

Nothing had terrified her like this before.

"I miss you guys so much," she whispered, sniffling. And she did. She would have given up the world for her five best friends. And she still would.

She gazed at Hiccup's face, grinning up at her.

" _What are you gonna do about it?"_

" _Eh, probably something stupid."_

" _Good, but you've already done that."_

" _Then, something crazy."_

" _That's more like it."_

A fierce determination bloomed in her chest as she looked at the picture. Barbara Holland must have had friends too. And if she just thought like Hiccup for a few hours, believed that something crazy would work, then she could make sure, for Barbara, that the creature wouldn't hurt any of those friends, or anyone else in Hawkins.

And Harrington?

Well, she could think about Harrington later. He made less sense than the monster at the moment.

Astrid stood up and delicately put the picture of her friends on her drawer, before picking up Barbara's again.

And she thought about how to kill the monster, whatever it was.

Berk was a lot different from other towns, and something that Astrid had experience - with great joy - was weapon training.

She couldn't shoot a gun. But, she thought as she took out a case from under the bed, she didn't need to when she could swing an axe.

She gripped it tightly in her hand.

She was going to avenge Barbara's death.

 **Hoo boy, this should be interesting.**


	6. Chapter 6

It was a lot colder, now that night had fallen. Astrid slowly walked back to the forest with nothing but the axe in her hand and a healthy amount of crazy.

She had decided that a coat would be too bulky and might hold her back, so she was only wearing a sweater. But however tonight went, she would much prefer to die by hypothermia than by a flesh eating monster.

She didn't even know what it was. It was certainly no bear. It didn't look…earthly, in a sense. It looked like something you saw in sci-fi horror movies.

Whatever it was, it was going to die.

As she entered the woods again, she held her axe up at the ready, with a deep breath. "Come out, come out, wherever you are, you little fucker!"

There was no response, but Astrid hadn't been expecting one anyway. She walked as quietly as she could, occasionally calling out. Every time there was a rustle or anything resembling a growl, she would turn in the direction it came from and hold the axe a little tighter.

Most of the sounds were just leaves scraping, though. And there had been one bunny that she hoped had gotten scared by her enough to run out of the woods before it was eaten.

A larger rustle than one created by the bunny sounded, and Astrid narrowed her eyes at the looming figure coming her way. As it got closer, she dug her foot into the ground, ready.

But it wasn't the demogorgon. It was Steve fucking Harrington, holding a bat (with nails in it?), looking almost smug at seeing her.

"I knew you'd come back." He put the bat over his shoulder. "You are stubborn as hell."

Oh, did he really have to be here? She had resolved that she would not think about him until things had calmed down - and things had not fucking calmed down, they were as heated as ever.

"What is that supposed to do?" she snarked back as greeting. "Poke a few holes in its thin skin?"

Harrington ran a hand through his hair and turned his back to her. "You'd be surprised. Now, uh, I guess you're not going to listen to me and go home -"

"Screw you."

" - yeah, okay. Maybe get back to back with me? Let's watch out for this thing."

Astrid let out a disgruntled sigh and did as he said, feeling their height difference in kind (it wasn't a lot, but it was enough to make her feel like a shortie). She could hear him letting out soft breaths as they circled.

So he hadn't helped kill Barbara. But he was still associated with it. And he was familiar with the monster, for sure.

"Harrington?"

"Hm?"

"What is all this?" she asked quietly.

There was a pause, and then he said, "A lot to explain, Astrid. But I promise, this time I will. You're...already tangled up in this shit now, so might as well, right?"

"Yeah," she agreed, feeling another cold breeze pass through her, making her shiver.

There had to be a sign of something, anything. But wherever that monster was, it didn't appear to be there.

A loud growl. Maybe she had spoken too soon.

"Come on out, shitface," Harrington muttered lowly, and Astrid gripped the axe a little tighter.

Then, all of a sudden, there was a loud rustle, and he yelped, making Astrid turn and see the horrifying creature for the second time in her life.

Harrington swung at it, managing to get one good hit before it struck back, leaning forward and slashing at his leg. It definitely ripped through his pants, and by the cry of pain that escaped his lips she guessed it had penetrated his skin as well.

"Steve!"

Astrid ran forward with a single minded purpose, raised the axe, and shoved the blade into the...the thing's stomach as far as it would go. It let out a pained screech, but now knowing how it would react, she jumped back when it clawed out and raised the axe again.

The monster backed away, roaring as it ran off, and once she was sure it wouldn't spring back on her, she leaned down and looked at Harrington's leg, which he had already exposed to show blood leaking out of.

"Hospital," she gasped, wincing when she saw it, "we gotta get you to a -"

"To tell them that an interdimensional monster attacked me? Jesus Christ, I sound like Dustin -"

"Interdimensional?"

"Later. We can't go the hospital, that thing could follow us. I have bandages in my shed."

"Bandages? Really?" Astrid clicked her tongue exasperatedly. "It could have us against a corner if we hide."

He managed to grin at her. "I'm sure you'll protect me."

She rolled her eyes, and then to Harrington's apparent surprise, she put one arm under his legs and one under his shoulders before lifting him up bridal style. He gawked.

"What the fuck -"

"You'd be surprised," she mimicked back at him as she walked towards the direction of his house. His cheeks colored but he still looked impressed.

Maybe he'd just never seen her muscles.

Once they got to the shed, she carefully sat him down before slamming the door closed. That was when the exhaustion seemed to catch up with both of them, and Astrid panted.

She didn't ask for an explanation. Right now, she wasn't sure she could handle one. She just sat next to Harrington, who, like an absolute idiot, was applying fifty bandages to his wound. It would hurt when he took them all off.

"You know," he muttered, sticking the tip of his tongue out, "I was wondering when that would happen."

"What?"

"When you'd say my name." He looked up and gazed at her. "And not just 'Harrington.'"

Astrid felt a blush pulse on her cheeks (he wouldn't be able to tell, though). "Oh, I, uh, I didn't realize I did."

"Yeah. You...when the thing ripped my leg open you screamed it."

"Oh."

"Right."

"Yeah."

Odin and Freya above, this boy was going to be the death of her.

Knowing very clearly what she was about to do, she grabbed his arm. "Stop putting on bandages like that, you'll make it worse."

"Last I checked you weren't a medical student -"

Astrid leaned forward and kissed him - on the lips, to clarify - and felt his arm go slack in her hand. She closed her eyes, determined not to see his expression, but a multitude of thrills went down her back when she felt his lips move to kiss back.

It was different. Hiccup was more like -

Maybe she'd enjoy things a bit more if she stopped comparing them to her old life.

It felt...nice. Really, really nice.

A jiggle on the door knob broke them apart. She gasped and his eyes widened. She tossed him the bat and stood up, axe at the ready as the door flung open.

"Over exerting yourself a bit too much, aren't you, intern?"

Astrid almost cried of relief.

It was Hopper.


	7. Chapter 7

"Took you long enough," Harrington said, shifting and trying to stand up. Hopper rolled his eyes as she helped him up, letting him lean on her.

"I was putting Jane to bed, she was way too nervous for the dance tomorrow. Flo told me you'd been calling urgently. Now, how did that gash happen, and how -" He turned his gaze at Astrid then. "Did you get tangled up in all this?"

She opened her mouth to answer -

And then closed it again.

It wasn't a good idea to answer when the answer was that she had stolen a picture from a police file. She didn't want to lose her internship. But then again, this was a whole lot more important than any non paying job. Her and Harrington had nearly died.

So, as Harrington started to say "It was my fau -" she jabbed him in the arm and looked the police chief in the eye, took a deep breath, and spoke.

"I was fed up of you heading out whenever someone called in a complaint and never bringing me along, even though that's what you're supposed to do, as my mentor." Attempting to keep the bitterness out of her voice, she continued. "I swiped a file off your desk, it was Barbara Holland's."

"Jesus," Hopper muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose "listen, kid, this isn't some petty police case. This is a -"

"A fight against an interdimensional monster?" Astrid asked dryly, raising a brow. "Yeah, I pieced that together, thanks."

"You have no idea what we're up against."

"Actually, she does," Harrington (Steve?) interrupted. "She saw it. She fought it." There was a relatively nice amount of awe in his voice. "She stabbed it." Before Hopper could respond to that, he continued, "But I thought they should have died when - what's her name? Eleven - when Eleven closed the gate."

"It's Jane," he responded, and even though Astrid had absolutely no clue who they were talking about (the chief's daughter?), she nodded. "And yeah, they should have. But I guess this is an exception. We'll ask the kids."

"I cannot believe our main source of information is a bunch of middle schoolers."

She vaguely remembered seeing Harrington (Steve, wasn't he on first name basis now that they had kissed?) after school with kids who looked to be half his age. Middle schoolers weren't half his age, but she was close enough. And no offense to them - she didn't even know who they were - but she really needed to understand everything before getting any new information.

"So that thing is from another dimension. Great. How do you kill it?"

"It's full size?" Hopper looked at Steve - Harrington - Steve for confirmation, and he nodded, at which Hopper clicked his tongue. "Well, shit. I could shoot the smaller ones, but the only time one of the big ones was killed was when Jane did it."

She saw Har - Steve - oh, whatever the fuck his name was - bite his lip, so she responded for him. "Well, if this Jane can kill it, then let's get her to!"

"Jane is not getting involved!" Hopper shouted, glaring at her. "She already -"

"Oh, do not do that!" Astrid narrowed her eyes and pointed. "Don't you dare yell at me like I'm being insensitive! I have no idea who you're even talking about! Don't shout as though I understand! I don't!"

"Then maybe you shouldn't have gotten involved!"

"Then maybe you should have been a better mentor!"

"Alright!" Steve yelled, squeezing her arm gently. "Listen. So...so Ele - Jane can't be involved. Can't we just hit it with the axe a few more times?"

There was a pause where her and Hopper continued to glare daggers at each other until he broke his gaze away and muttered, "It could work. I'll take care of it."

"No offense, but Hawkins doesn't offer weapon training." She clenched her fist. "So I'm going to guess you've never used an axe. And this thing is special. I am not giving it to you."

"This isn't a time to be sentimental, kid. Either you give me that or we die."

Astrid grit her teeth. "Or option three, you use your gun, and I use the axe. I can take that thing."

"That's not an option."

Harrington (Steve!) ran a hand through his hair (as unnecessarily as always). "Chief, she carried me here. If I would ask any teenager to face a monster like that, it'd be the axe wielding, strong as hell, resident viking."

Astrid shot him a look, but Hopper relented at that. They couldn't bring Harrington along, and it would be too cumbersome trying to sneak him back into his house with his leg's condition, so they sat him in a chair and gave him the bat.

"Alright, Hofferson, let's go."

She turned to Harrington and leaned down, so they were eye level. "Hey. If that thing comes in here, don't you hesitate. Beat the ever loving -"

"Fuck out of it. Got it." He gave her a crooked grin. "You're the one who should be careful, viking."

"I will be."

"Good."

She kissed him again.

It didn't last very long, it was barely three seconds in before Hopper shouted, "Let's go, Hofferson!"

Astrid pulled away and noted that Steve had a bit of a dazed look, but there was no time to reflect on it, or for them to talk (or possibly make out and more - damn, her thoughts had gotten dirty really fast).

She followed Hopper out, closing the door to the shed. They walked in tense silence, and unlike before, there was no sound. It seemed that all form of life in the woods had simply vanished, scared off by the monster. Or maybe it had killed everything.

Astrid knew that was impossible, but she also knew that she didn't really know what was possible or not anymore.

After a few minutes of torturous walking, Hopper finally said, "Listen, kid -"

"Forget it." She glanced at him. "I'll quit tomorrow."

"You don't need to do that." He sighed. "I'll...try, okay? There's just been a lot of things I've been busy with lately…"

Astrid snorted, shaking her head. "No kidding. I'm guessing other dimensions and this Jane character swallow up a bit of your time."

He opened his mouth to respond and then put his arm in front of her, and she saw why.

The monster was hunched over, its back to them, and it was clearly preying on something. There were blood droplets next to it, and as her and Hopper inched closer, she saw something that made her sick to her stomach.

It was the rabbit she had seen earlier.

Hopper raised his gun -

At the same time the monster turned its head and saw them.

Then many things happened at once.

It roared, showing its large amount of teeth, and Astrid roared too (it was more of a scream) as she ran forward, axe raised, screaming, "Son of a half troll rat eating -" and Hopper asked her just what the hell did she think she was doing. He asked loudly.

Just one more pierce to its stupid skin and -

The monster moved out of the way and Astrid slammed the axe into a tree.

She yanked as she heard gunshots, thinking that the thing was now facing the chief and she had to help him, but she was wrong,

Very wrong.

It was still facing her, and with a snarl it had her head slammed against the tree and her body slumped on the ground, axe stuck in the bark, jaws opening, Hopper shouting, "Son of a -" as he fired shot after shot -

Astrid shut her eyes tightly.

So much for avenging Barbara. She was about to join her.

And then there was a loud crash and she opened her eyes (a good five seconds after the crash, who knew, maybe dying sounded like crashing) and there was a car, and the monster was lying there, looking dead.

Then, out of all people, Nancy Wheeler came out of the car, yelling, "Go! To! Hell!" as she shot the monster with a gun.

Out of the driver's seat came Jonathan Byers, holding up a lighter.

Astrid's head spun.

The monster was dead. She tried to tell them, but everything hurt, especially her head, and words wouldn't come out. They killed it a little more.

Hopper ran over to her, holding her head up and waving his hand in front of her face. He was multiplying. She heard them talking…

And talking…

Wheeler was looking concerned…

Byers was looking desperate…

Hopper was shouting…

And maybe it was a few seconds or an hour later, but Harrington was there too. Steve was there too.

But by that time, she could have been hallucinating.

Astrid didn't know whether she threw up before she fainted, or after.

 **This was a really fun chapter to write. Me and my sister were brainstorming how the demogorgon was actually gonna die. :D**


	8. Chapter 8

When Astrid woke up, there were three teenagers and one adult in the hospital room with her.

Surprisingly enough, the adult wasn't Hopper, or either of her parents, but a woman that was most likely Mrs. Byers, since she was sitting next to her son. Wheeler was on the other side of him, and Steve was sitting the closest to her. All three of them were asleep, with their heads lolling.

She slowly sat up, looking out the window. It was still dark.

And her head was still throbbing.

Steve's leg must have gotten treated to already, or he wouldn't be here. She looked down, seeing his clothes looking a little bulky right around where the monster had got him. Maybe some gauze?

The door creaked open, and Hopper entered, followed by a young girl with short hair who was looking at her curiously. When the chief saw her awake, he sighed in relief. "How's your head?"

"Fine," she lied quickly, running a hand through her hair and realizing self consciously that it was loose around her shoulders. "What happened, exactly?" she asked, cheeks burning as she tried to redo her braid.

Hopper raised a brow, but didn't comment. "Well, these two over here -" He flicked his thumb towards Byers and Wheeler - "had apparently also gotten the memo from this one" - he pointed to Steve this time - "that the monster was near his house. Good thing too, it was ready to devour you."

Astrid shivered as she remembered, closing her eyes for a brief second. "Steve got stitches?"

"Yeah, and they wrapped some cast around his leg - you can sit," he said to girl gently, but she shook her head, still staring at the older girl. "You had a minor concussion, and you're burning up too."

"I have a fever?" Astrid asked incredulously, her hand flying to her forehead. "You're kidding! I have a project due tomorrow -"

Hopper clicked his tongue. "Not really the biggest problem, though, is it?"

"It's a very big problem!"

"Jesus."

She crossed her arms and leaned back, finally meeting the gaze of the girl with a small smile (it was a kid, for Thor's sake). "Hi. What's your name?"

Her eyes widened, and she looked up to Hopper for confirmation as he nodded encouragingly. The girl bit her lip and said softly, "Jane."

Oh. Jane. The Jane they were talking about.

Jane was a kid.

Jane had defeated one of those monsters.

But Jane was a kid.

Astrid really felt like she was missing something, because this small doe eyed girl in front of her looked way too innocent to have even set eyes on that monster.

"That's a pretty name." She smiled as the girl did the same. "I'm Astrid."

"It was getting late and I didn't wanna leave Jane alone all night, so I brought her here." Hopper ruffled the girl's hair. "I'll get the doctor to check up and discharge you," he told Astrid, walking towards the door.

"Wait." She bit her lip as he looked at her. "Chief, I still have no idea what's going on. Why is Mrs. Byers here? Which hospital are we in? Since when were other dimensions even a thing? Why - my axe! Holy Thor, my axe, we have to go back -"

"Hey!" He held up a hand. "Your axe is in my car. I'll drop you off, and I'll tell you everything. Jonathan called Joyce, asked her to come. We're in a...private hospital. Dr. Owens will check up on you, probably just give you something for your fever, just relax, kid, okay? You deserve it. Just relax."

Jane followed Hopper out and Astrid shivered as the door closed. Fuck. She did have a fever. She hated fevers, they often got bad enough for her to never want to leave bed again. Be burning hot one moment, and freezing her ass off the next. Curl up into her blankets - speaking of which, the thin hospital blanket was awful, because all of a sudden she was freezing.

Maybe it was the sickness getting to her already, or exhaustion, or sleep deprivation, or all three, but she reached over to Steve and took his hand, her cheeks tingling pleasantly when she felt he was warm.

Another shiver. A sniffle. Sickness was a bitch.

"Harrington." She shook his knee (the good leg) lightly, and then a little harder. "Harrington!" she whispered shouted. "Steve!"

His eyes flitted open and he gazed at her sleepily for a few seconds before his eyes widened and a flurry of emotions played on his face. "You're awake! Are you okay? The doctor said -"

"I'm okay, Hopper talked to me." She took his hand again and placed it on her cheek, sighing in relief. "You are so warm."

Steve looked at her oddly, but he sat on the bed and let her sit up before gathering her in his arms and rubbing her sides. "Better?"

"Better." She sighed against his shoulder.

And it was. A lot better than the last hug they'd had, when she had just seen the monster for the first time. It had only been hours, but it felt a lot longer. It felt like months.

But this hug, this calming, soothing moment only felt like a few seconds because soon the doctor and the chief and Jane were back and she had to pull away. The day's events were really catching up to her now, because she wanted to cry at the sudden lack of warmth.

She didn't, of course. She hadn't completely lost her mind.

But she knew, during the check up and the drive home, that the next time she got a chance to be warmed up by Steve Harrington, she wouldn't be passing it up.

The opportunity came a lot sooner than she expected, though.

 **The next chapter will most likely have nothing but Steve and Astrid, so** _ **ye**_ **we're taking a break from the action!**


	9. Chapter 9

**This chapter is dialogue HEAVY you guys...**

Her nose wasn't stuffed, and her throat didn't hurt, and she wasn't really nauseous, but she had had a headache the entire day, felt drowsy and cold all at once, and to top it all off, she had the whole day to actually, freely think about everything Hopper had told her last night. The demogorgon. The dogs. The Upside Down. Jane's abilities. Her abuse. How a bunch of kids were dealing with things that kids shouldn't have been dealing with.

And how her parents weren't allowed to know because not many people were allowed to know. Because it wasn't supposed to be known. Other dimensions and monsters were hidden away from people like her.

So Astrid spent the day groaning pitifully to no one in particular. She wanted to go -

Well, she didn't want to go home, but she also did. Berk was strange, but it was beautiful and mysterious and it was her life. Hawkins had been dull and dry until this all happened. And maybe the excitement would be welcome if it didn't come so fast and with a dose of child abuse.

There was a light knock on her window, and Astrid saw the hair before she looked at her clock. It wasn't that late, but there was no reason for Steve to come. Their presentation had been today, and she had missed it.

Still, she trudged up and opened the window, reaching out and plucking a leaf from his hair before allowing him to come in. "Did you drive here? Can you even do that with your leg?"

"It wasn't that bad." Steve closed the window and then she saw he had a bag in his hand. "I was already out, I had to drop someone off at the middle school dance."

"Was it…" She tried to remember a name from the multitude Hopper had given her yesterday. "Lucas?"

He shook his head. "Dustin. Here, I picked up soup for you."

Astrid blinked in surprise, but took the bag without protest. She'd been too lazy to eat too much all day. "Um...thanks." She looked up at him. "You didn't have to."

Steve snorted as she sat down on the bed with the bag next to her and flopped down, his head on her lap. "And I should have let you make your own soup? Please, I didn't want you to die."

She flicked his ear (it had been one bad smoothie and suddenly she was a bad cook? Unbelievable.) and yawned softly. "Why are you here? We don't have anything to work on."

"No," Steve agreed, "but A, your parents are never home and you're taking care of yourself, B, I didn't have anything else to do, and C, you kissed me yesterday. We're not going to just ignore that, are we?"

To her benefit, the way he brought it up caused her just to roll her eyes rather than any of that cursed blushing she'd been doing lately. "I just found out about alternate dimensions and me kissing you is what you wanna talk about?"

"Alternate dimensions will still be here tomorrow," he said with a wide grin, raising his head slightly.

"While your lips won't?"

Steve sighed dramatically and fell right back into her lap. "I thought Hopper already told you everything."

"He did," Astrid murmured, distractedly running her fingers through his hair, "I got Eleven, superpowers, bad lab people, missing Will, fake body, more monsters but little ones...I heard a lot, but not much about your involvement."

He smirked; it seemed everything she said today was enough to set him off. He leaned up with his elbow propped up on the bed and his head in his hand. "How about this? I'll tell you my involvement if you tell me something."

Astrid furrowed her brows - how was she the interesting one right now? Lying on her stomach to face him eye to eye, she nodded. "Shoot."

"Who are those people?"

Steve jerked his head towards the picture of the gang still propped up on top of her drawer, and her heart leaped in her chest. "Why?"

He gazed at her for a few seconds, and then said quietly and sincerely, "Because you look beyond happy in those pictures, and I've never seen you like that. Happy, yeah, but not that. Not...her," he said, looking at the photo curiously.

"I…" Her voice caught in her throat. "That's...they're...important." She took a deep breath and forced herself to look into Steve's eyes. "They're...the most important people in the world to me. They're my best friends."

She closed her eyes for a second, expecting a laugh or something, but when she opened her eyes, he was looking at her, intrigued, so she bit her lip and went on.

"I grew up with the gang. We...all of us played in the mud together, went on swings, took the mickey out of each other." A small smile graced her lips as fond memories rushed through her head. "It was like...us against the world. There was me and Ruffnut, we were the only girls."

Steve wasn't looking at her anymore, he was looking at the picture and squinting as she described them all. "There was Ruff's twin brother, Tuffnut, or Tuff. Fishlegs. He's the other blonde boy. Snotlout, the short one. And…" She swallowed. "And the brunette is Hiccup."

Her voice must have cracked, because he turned back to her and a look of understanding passed through his face. "And you and Hiccup dated." It wasn't a question.

"How did you -"

"I wouldn't know for sure," Steve mumbled, his cheeks reddening slightly, "but I think...the way you were looking at his picture just now?" He looked down. "I think that's the way I was looking at Nancy when I saw her volunteering at the dance."

"Oh." She didn't know what to do with that information. "That's…"

"Pathetic, I know. She's moved on, so why can't I?"

Astrid hummed in thought for a few seconds and then said, "Just because she's dating Byers doesn't mean she's moved on. She probably still cares."

He snorted, sitting up with a slightly pained expression. "Of course she cares. She's Nancy Wheeler. She's nice and sweet and she...she cares about everyone…"

Oh, like she'd never met anyone like that before.

'Hiccup too." She sat up and he put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in. "He was nice and smart and funny and he loved animals."

"He sounds like a great guy."

"Nancy sounds like a great girl."

"And we sound fucking pathetic."

A laugh escaped her and she pressed her face against his chest. He wasn't wrong, they were praising each other's exes. "Well, we're the assholes in the relationships, remember?"

"Yeah, we are." He took a deep breath and then his words came out in a rush. "Last year, I saw Jonathan in Nancy's room and my fucking head told me that meant she was cheating on me. I let my friend - at the time - spray paint shit about her. Then I...I…"

Deciding to follow his example, she didn't say anything, but held his hand to show she was listening.

"I...insulted Will, and Jonathan punched me, and oh God, I fucking deserved it. So I went to his house to apologize but fought a demogorgon instead."

Astrid breathed softly, looking up at him. "But Nancy was still dating you. What about this year? You had to deal with the...the demodogs?"

He gave a short nod. "Yeah. Dustin needed my help and I didn't realize there was so many of them. I thought I could take it. Anyway, at some point Billy showed up -"

"Hargrove?"

"Yeah, Hargrove. He hates Lucas and he hates that his sister Max is with Lucas and he came and he pushed the kid onto a shelf."

"What the fuck?" Astrid pulled back, staring at him incredulously. "What could Lucas have done that was so -"

"Billy's racist."

Pieces clicked together in her brain, and she nodded slowly. Great, more child abuse, just what this story needed, and now with a sprinkle of racism. Perfect.

"I got him away from Lucas, and I punched him, but then he smashed a plate on my head -" Astrid winced, trying not to imagine terrified kids watching their teenage protector lose a fight to someone who was out to hurt them - "and started to beat me up." He scoffed lightly. "I guess I kinda deserved that one too. Once I hit the ground...I let him. At least he was beating me up instead of the kids, right?"

Steve's voice was shaking, and Astrid, vividly remembering how Snotlout would tremble just like that whenever he talked about his shitty father, slid her arms around his neck and pulled him close, so that he could hide his face as he tucked it in the crook of her neck.

"He kept going. And going. Until...well, I passed out, but they told me Max stabbed him with a syringe that knocked him out." She felt a slight wetness on her skin. "So a thirteen year old saved me because I couldn't bother to hit back after a few punches."

Astrid felt tears prickling at the corner of her ears too (to think that she'd thought he got those bruises in some stupid alpha male fight!) and she rubbed his back. "Hey. It's okay. You...you were amazing, okay? Hiccup's dad, he told me once that we both were warriors, born to protect. You are too. We're protectors."

Steve didn't respond to that, but he wrapped his arms around her waist and grabbed fistfuls of her shirt, holding her close.

Then, after a minute, he said, without letting go of her, "I'm not over Nance."

"I know."

"I think you're amazing, and - and a great kisser, and I wanna be with you, but it's not fair if I'm still thinking about her."

"I know what you mean." She glanced at the photo over the shoulder. "I don't think I'm ready yet either. Definitely attracted to you, but…"

"But let's wait awhile."

"Yeah. Maybe the feelings will go away."

"Or maybe they'll stay."

"Maybe," Astrid said softly.

It was then Steve pulled back, wiping his eyes (a lot more softly than she did when she was crying, but she was starting to notice he was a soft boy in general).

"Sorry. You're sick. We should - I should...uh…"

Astrid bit back a smile and then closed her eyes, resting her head on his shoulder. "Just hold me, yeah?"

Steve complied, and as she was warmed up by his arms and soothed by the sound of his heartbeat, she thought that it should have felt like the end of a story just about now.

Instead, it felt like the beginning.

 **Okay, so I have like, five people who read this thing, and I want to ask you:**

 **Since there's no real plot running in my head, but a bunch of oneshot ideas, do you want me to end this story here and post them as separate oneshots in this universe? Or should it just be new chapters for this, but without a real plot (i.e. the Upside Down, demogorgon) and just Steve and Astrid's developing relationship?**

 **Also, either way, I'd like you guys to send in prompts for oneshots that I won't guarantee I'll write each one, but hopefully they'll inspire me and you can send me as many as you want (but only for them at this stage of their relationship, close friends but not dating, once they start dating it can be prompts for that. You can still send romantic prompts, but they won't be dating).**

 **Please let me know!**


	10. Chapter 10

**The general consensus was to keep posting here, and that's what I was leaning towards anyway, so here you go! Let the oneshots begin!**

 **.**

 **Basketball Practice**

Astrid shut her locker door and faced Steve, who had his hair extra poofy today, and was crossing his arms with a heartwarming grin on his face.

"What do you want?" she asked, raising a brow.

"Ouch."

She rolled her eyes and then fluttered her eyelashes. "Steve, you look so fantastic today in that sharp outfit, my heart is racing with the thought of how you'd look with it off -"

"Jesus," he said with a horrified expression. "I wanted you to notice the extra effort, not do...whatever the hell that was."

She leaned forward with a small smile, and said sweetly but firmly, "What...do...you...want?"

Lately, he'd been coming to her in the morning everyday, and very often it was to tell her about his night, or to tell her about an awesome new movie, or to sing a few lyrics from a song and ask what she thought.

Maybe it should have annoyed her. But he made her laugh. It wasn't very easy to be annoyed when you were fighting back tears of mirth (okay, tears were once in a while, it was mostly just light giggles).

"I just wanted to ask if you...uh…" He took her hand and squeezed it gently, a gesture he'd been doing often lately. "If you wanted to -"

Oh, gods. Was he going to ask her out? She wasn't ready just yet. It had been only two weeks since their conversation in her bedroom, and she wasn't ready at all -

" - come to basketball practice?"

Oh.

Feeling bad even before saying it, Astrid pushed her hair behind her ear and said, "I go to the station right after school. Hopper's been taking me out with him when people call in, I don't want him to think I'm not dedicated, y'know?"

Steve's face fell, but only briefly. "Oh, that's no big deal," he shrugged in his usually way. "If you're ready to go, let's get to class."

"Steve -"

"Don't worry about it." He took one of her books from her hands and skimmed through it, probably to avoid her gaze. "It was stupid, we just hadn't hung out in a few days cause of homework and all that, and I mean, it's not like we'd be hanging out while I'm playing, anyway. Seriously, Ast, that internship is important to you, it's not something you can cancel." He held her free hand and tugged her forward lightly before she could say anything. "And I wouldn't want you to."

"Alright," she murmured, walking next to him, already thinking about how to get off a little earlier today. She'd missed hanging out with him too.

* * *

"Chief," Astrid began, not quite sure how she was going to convince him.

Hopper made a sound to show he was listening, although he didn't take his eyes off the road.

"Um…" She bit her lip, leaning back. Basketball practice was probably already over, because she hadn't had the courage to ask her mentor lest he think she cared about boys more than her payless job (maybe they were the same level of importance). "There's...you know Steve?"

This time he glanced at her with a strange look, raising a brow. "Yeah. I know Steve. What about him?"

"He has...well, he asked me…"

"Kid, if you're asking me for romantic advice, then you should ask someone else." Hopper snorted, and Astrid shook her head vehemently even though he couldn't see her.

"No! No, it's just...heaskedmetocometobasketballpractice," she blurted out really quickly. When the chief didn't say anything right away, she went on hurriedly. "And it's - it's dumb, I don't have to go, but he really wanted me to, and it's probably too late now, but he looked so fuc - darn disappointed, and I feel bad when he feels bad but I have to come here and stay here-"

"This is not what I'm mentoring you in," Hopper said firmly, but she could hear a light tone of amusement in his voice. "You sound less like you're trying to convince me, and more like you're trying to convince yourself."

Okay, he might have been the police chief of Hawkins, but he had no right to call her out like that. Screw authority.

"I'm convinced! I just…" She crossed her arms and huffed. "Can I go or not?"

He was already turning down the road of the high school as he answered. "Unless you're particularly concerned with how the Johnsons think their house is haunted, it doesn't matter to me. I'll drop you off. Just do me one favor."

"What?" She raised a brow, twiddling her thumbs.

He parked in front of the school and faced her with a dry expression. "Next time you wanna go to someone's basketball practice, just go. It'll do me good not to have you nagging about every little call that comes in. You'll still have your job the next day."

Astrid opened her mouth in disbelief, shaking her head. "Nagging? This is a serious -"

"God, kid, go watch your boy play basketball and leave me alone!"

* * *

The gym was empty - except for Steve, who was sitting on the bleachers with a towel and staring off into empty space.

So she was late for practice. And she didn't like the pang of guilt that hit her. It was such a small thing, basketball practice. But it was for her friend/a little more than a friend.

"Hey, Harrington."

He looked up, his face morphing into one of confusion. "Ast? You got off early today?"

"Yeah," she answered simply, not wanting to delve into her talk with Hopper. She stood in front of him, openly admiring how he looked when he was sweaty (he didn't seem to mind). "I didn't think it ended this early. Are you tired?" She grinned at him.

"Not that much. Why?"

Astrid turned around and picked up the basketball, dribbling it as she walked backwards. "Then bring it, Harrington."

Steve's eyes lit up and he smirked as he stood up. "I sincerely hope you're delusional and don't think you can beat me at a game I play professionally -"

" - you're in a high school team -"

" - try playing with Billy Hargrove and see if anything fazes you after that."

There was that smile she had been thinking about since this morning. Even as he swore when she made a false move to throw him off and then shot a ball through the hoop, his grin stayed on his face.

After a tie (both got six balls in), they were panting, and laughing at the same time. They both sat down on the bleachers, their backs leaning against each other. Steve leaned his head back so she could see his face clearly. "Alright. I am ten times more attracted to you."

Astrid laughed, flicking his cheek gently, inwardly acknowledging how her heart fluttered at the joke. "Meh, for me it's only about five times more. Maybe when I see you in an actual match...sweaty and panting and hopefully winning..."

He guffawed and poked her side. "Jesus Christ, you get dirty fast, Hofferson. What's next, you're gonna make out with me in the locker rooms?"

"I am shocked that you think I would stop at making out."

Steve laughed again, tilting his head to press a kiss to her cheek. "Thanks for coming. And for the...extra practice."

"You mean the butt whooping? You're welcome." She shifted and then laid her head down on his lap. "Don't worry about it. Hopper doesn't even want me there!"

"I mean..." Steve leaned down with a smirk. "I'm not surprised."

Oh, seeing him happy was a delight, but maybe sometimes she had to wipe that cockiness off his face.

"I think you looked horrid at school this morning."

"We both know you were dreaming about me all day."

"At least I was just dreaming. You were probably writing Mrs. Astrid Harrington all over your notes."

"Ast!"

 **Please, do send in as may prompts as you want, I want ideas! Just remember, whatever the prompt will be, I won't write it with them as boyfriend and girlfriend, and the other thing is that there's no guarantee I'll write it (if I try to write something that doesn't inspire me it'll be crap) so that's why I don't care if you send in a billion, especially since there's a small amount of readers. people leave it in the reviews, Tumblr people in the reblogs or send me an ask. Thanks!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Talking and Coping**

"I need your help."

Astrid's eyes lit up as Steve said it, because he had let his guard down and she had a free pass to throw the ball over his shoulder, into the hoop, which she did effortlessly. She smirked triumphantly, but he didn't seem to notice, instead staring at her intently.

"I need your help," he said again, his eyes pleading. "I volunteered to babysit tomorrow night and now I have other plans."

Astrid picked up the ball and tossed it behind her shoulder, smirking as she heard it hit the ring and raising a brow. "Got a hot date, Harrington?"

Steve snorted, walking over to the bleachers to wipe his face with a towel. "Oh, yeah. A hot date called grounded."

She frowned, putting her hand on her hip. "What for?"

He mumbled something under his breath that she didn't quite catch, before saying out loud, "I didn't get a good grade on Lebowski's test."

Astrid sighed, pretty sure that grounding meant no car privileges, which meant that if he was caught sneaking out then he'd be in more trouble than he already was. And that was...upsetting. Lately she had been enjoying having him laying down next to her and talking about the most random crap while she did her homework. It didn't distract her, not really - in fact, it kinda helped to get used to multitasking. (Studying was a different case, but Steve was normally content to get some spicy chips from her cupboard and slide his arms around her waist as he ate and read over her shoulder.) It was a rare occurrence, but she'd been getting annoyed whenever her parents were home.

"You know I could tutor you." She reached for her braid to untie it but self-consciously pulled her hand back, not wanting to have loose hair in front of him. "You're telling your parents that basketball practice is taking longer because I come here right after I leave the station, so if we're lying to them anyway, why not use the time to study?"

He bit his lip - in a kind of attractive way - but shook his head. "I like playing with you. We don't get that much time, might as well spend it wisely."

Well, this was going to be hard.

Astrid crossed her arms. "Then on the days we play, you don't come over."

Steve looked up at her with a hurt look, but this time, she willed herself to hold her ground - after all, she was doing it because she wanted to hang out with him. "If we study instead of playing, you can come. But if not, stay at home and study. You can't have both."

"Christ, you're not my mom," he said, a frown on his face, "I'm already grounded, Hofferson, I don't need you to boss me around."

"Hey, I'm just setting boundaries on myself and my house. They just happen to revolve around your actions. You're the one who said you needed my help."

He stood up, running a hand through his hair. "I meant I wanted to ask you to babysit instead of me. It's at the Wheelers' house, I don't want the kids to have to reschedule because of me." He turned around and walked towards the locker room. "But if you want to lecture me instead -"

"Hey!" Astrid ran after him and grabbed his hand, turning him around. "Steve, come on, you are such a drama queen. You know you need to study."

He clicked his tongue, locking his eyes on the floor. "I need to play basketball with you too. I need to come to your house. I - I can't…"

She leaned down and tilted his chin up. "Can't what?"

"Can't…" He cursed quietly and looked her straight in the eyes. "The days your parents are home...and I can't see you at night...I have trouble sleeping."

"What?" Astrid asked in astonishment, her mouth agape. "But...but I don't help you sleep. We just talk."

"Yeah, but those talks are important." He swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing. "I'm sorry, alright? But...Jesus, with you, I can start off with how I got pranked once in seventh grade, and end with how I had a nightmare about the demogorgon last night. We have a nice range. And talking to you helps me got to sleep when I go back home, it's much better than talking to myself."

Oh, for Thor's sake. She was trying to be stern. S-T-E-R-N. He really should try and let her remain cross with him for more than a few minutes.

"Steve."

"Astrid."

She rolled her eyes and slid her arms around his neck, pulling him in as he repeated the action around her waist. "I get attached way too easily, don't I?"

"I don't mind," she murmured in his ear, "but you have to sleep without visiting me, Steve. You being dependent on me? Maybe that sounds sweet, but it's really not healthy in any way. I'll babysit for you tomorrow - might as well finally meet these kids - but we're also going to study. How long are you grounded?"

"Until next week."

"Then we don't play basketball until next week." When he began to protest, she put a finger over his lips. "We study. You don't come to my house, but...maybe we can make a recording or a video for you to watch. Heads up, I don't sing. And when you're off the hook from your parents, then you choose. We can either study instead of playing, or you bring your things when you come to my house and study while I do. If my parents are home you study at your house. Okay? That way you can still come by at night and talk to me. Deal?"

At first, he didn't say anything and Astrid was thinking about how to sweeten the deal (while considering how whipped she was), when he finally said, "I don't know why you called yourself the asshole in a relationship." He pulled back from the hug but stayed close, scanning over her face. "I don't think you're an asshole."

"I don't quite think you're an asshole either," she murmured, leaning close enough for his hair to be touching her forehead.

Steve leaned down a little more and their lips barely brushed before they both simultaneously pulled away, his cheeks tinted light pink. "We're not doing that."

"No, we're not," he agreed, holding her hand. "You're - you're right. Deal. I accept."

"Thank you."

Astrid intertwined their fingers and kissed him incredibly close to his lips, but not quite on them, before taking a deep breath and smiling at him.

"So, about these kids...what are they like?"

 **PLEASE send me in story prompts, guys! Pretty please?**


	12. Chapter 12

**Our Very Own Babysitters' Club**

 **Requested by naadestiel on Tumblr and ChrisFlannery on Fanfiction. I hope you guys like it!**

The snow wasn't all gone yet, but it was getting there. Astrid's shoes made small prints as she walked to the Wheelers' door, shivering with her arms around herself.

And the main thing on her mind was that she was definitely not the babysitter type.

She was more responsible and more forward thinking than most people her age, but that just meant that she stopped them from doing stupid things (especially when it came to Snotlout and the twins), not that she was ready for kids to count on her.

Then again, it wasn't five year olds. She was watching over kids who would be in high school next year. But after meeting Jane, she was still wary. These children had clearly gone through hell and back. Maybe not as bad as Jane, but still. Did she really have the capacity to deal with that?

And...Steve really liked these kids. If they didn't like her...

Karen Wheeler answered the door and smiled widely. "Hi! You must be Astrid!"

She shook the woman's hand and nodded, plastering on a pleasant smile as though she wasn't nervous. "I am. Nice to meet you, Mrs. Wheeler."

Her hand must have been freezing, because Mrs. Wheeler ushered her inside and closed the door. Astrid walked in and saw the stairs first, and the kitchen to the left.

It was a normal house with normal parents and not so normal kids.

"So, the kids are in the basement. Nancy is upstairs, she's leaving in a few minutes. My husband should be back in about two hours. I'm going out for some me time." Astrid laughed politely as Mrs. Wheeler winked. "Help yourself to anything in the fridge, and please ask Mike if you don't know where something is. I trust them to behave." She straightened and called out, "Mike! Babysitter's here!"

"Alright!" came a boy's voice from the basement. It was definitely a middle schooler. Astrid ran a hand through her hair and smiled encouragingly at Mrs. Wheeler.

"I'm sure we'll be fine. Thank you, Mrs. Wheeler." She waved goodbye to the woman, who smiled before leaving and closing the door behind her.

Astrid took a deep breath. Alright. She just had to go downstairs and hang out with them. They already knew she knew about the Upside Down, so they wouldn't feel like they had to hide something from her. It would be natural. It would be cool.

She was about to go when Nancy came down the stairs, with her jacket on and her hair over her shoulder. She paused when she saw Astrid.

"Oh. Hey."

"Hey," she offered awkwardly, "um...I'm here to -"

"Babysit. Yeah. I know, Mom said Steve couldn't make it." She came downstairs and the two girls looked at each other before Astrid spoke up.

"You look nice."

Nancy smiled, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. Damn, if it got any more awkward, people would think there was some sexual tension going on. "Thanks."

There was a honk outside and Nancy straightened. "There's Ally. Thanks for doing this, I know my mom really appreciates it."

She turned towards the door and was reaching out for the knob when Astrid blurted, "Hey, Nancy?"

Nancy looked at her, blinking in surprise. "Yeah?"

"I never thanked you for saving my ass a month ago." Astrid swallowed, taking a deep breath. "So thanks. Um...I'm pretty sure I would have died if not for you and Byers. Tell him I said thanks too. Of course, I'll say it if I see him, but I mean, you'll probably see him first. Not that I won't still say it to him -"

"I'll tell him," Nancy cut her off with a laugh, and a smile that reached her eyes. "And thank you, too."

She frowned slightly, racking her head. She didn't remember doing anything for Nancy, but the girl had opened the door and left before she could ask.

So, anxiously, Astrid made her way downstairs.

* * *

There were five kids. Trying to piece together the information from Hopper and Steve together, she tried to identify them.

By their hair.

The boy with the shortest hair was Lucas, the boy with the curly hair was Dustin, and the redheaded girl was Max. She was fairly sure that Will was the one with the...mushroom haircut, for lack of better words, and Mike had curly-but-not-as-curly-as-Dustin hair.

Max was the one who greeted her first. She was sitting back with her arms crossed as she nodded to their babysitter.

"Hey. Are you Astrid?"

"That's me," she answered, slinging off her bag, "hey, if I mix you guys up, correct me, okay? Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, Max?" she tried, pointing to all of them.

"You got us all right. Congratulations." Dustin smiled widely at her, and then looked down at the monopoly board in front of him. "I own that already, Mike. Hey, is it true you hit a demogorgon with an axe?"

Astrid felt a smile grow on her face as she leaned against the wall. "I did. Is it true that you guys name all these monsters after Dungeons and Dragons terminology?"

Max and Will laughed, and the boy said with a smile, "Not me and Max. When these guys named the demogorgon, I wasn't...there."

There was a thick silence in the air after that, probably because everyone's minds had jumped to where Will had actually been. Astrid saw Mike's brows furrow in concern, and then he frowned.

"So…" Astrid began, trying to break the silence. "Where's Jane?"

That was the wrong thing to say, apparently.

All the kids looked at Mike, who was now scowling. "Jane isn't allowed out of her house unless it's a special occasion. Monopoly isn't special."

Astrid opened her mouth to say that she had seen Jane the night she went to the hospital, but then closed it, realizing that Hopper had only brought her out because it was really late at night and he didn't want her to be alone. And she didn't want to make the kid upset.

So she sat down and watched them play.

After a few minutes, Lucas turned to her and said, "You wanna join in, Astrid?"

"Oh, no, I'm no good at monopoly." That was true. That had definitely been Fishlegs' and Snotlout's game. She was more of a Sorry! girl, or even Candyland (even if it was entirely based on luck, yadda yadda yadda). Dungeons and Dragons was great too, but that was only because that was what she had grown up with, being friends with the nerdiest people on the planet. Steve had said the kids played it a lot. Was it because of her that they weren't playing it now?

Another few minutes of just the kids talking, and then Dustin stood up with a bored look. "Guys, this is never gonna end. Let's just do something else."

"Like what?" Mike said, giving him a deadpanned look. "Seven up? There's nothing to do."

"Let's talk to Steve's girlfriend, then," Max suggested with a shrug, and before Astrid could speak that she was in no world Steve's girlfriend, Mike snapped back.

"You just wanna talk to her cause she can use an axe!"

"I mean, is that not cool? How many people do you know that know how to use axes?"

"I'm sure there's plenty of people!"

"You're just mad that she brought up El -"

And they kept shouting at each other, back and forth. Astrid exchanged a bewildered look with Will, who grimaced and gave her an apologetic look. Dustin started shouting, trying to get them to calm down, and Lucas was pinching the bridge of his nose.

Despite the fact that it was kids arguing - and that she might have a part in it - it reminded her so much of home that she smiled, ducking her head. Hiccup would be nursing a headache while Fishlegs tried to break up a fight between her and Snotlout, with the twins chanted on for them to let go of their words and fight with their fists instead.

"Alright, hey, stop it!" She stood up and clapped a few times until they looked at her. "You guys realize you don't need to do everything as a group? This is a group gathering, yeah, but even best friends -"

"She is not my best friend," Mike cut in, crossing his arms.

She went on as though she hadn't heard him. "Even best friends need some time apart sometimes. So if you're getting sick of each other, do your own things. I'd love to talk about my axe," she said to Max with a small smile, "but, to set the record straight, I'm not dating your adopted big brother, guys. We're just friends."

She was grateful that they all took seemed to take it to heart. Dustin, Mike, and Lucas went upstairs, while Max and surprisingly, Will, plopped down in front of her, joining her on the floor.

"So, an axe? That's so cool!" Max grinned, biting her lip, and Astrid smiled at her.

"Yeah. I got it back when I was living in Berk." She sat back and leaned against the wall. "We were given weapon training there, we're really...into Norse mythology and vikings, y'know?" She leaned forward. "One of my friends, he was never good at any fighting when he was younger. But he was really good at making the weapons, even if he couldn't use them. He made me this."

Will's brows furrowed. "If...everyone learned how to fight...and your friend couldn't...didn't people make fun of him? Because he was different?"

He was speaking from full personal experience. Poor boy. She wasn't the babysitting type, but even she was ready to pull Will Byers into a hug if he needed it. "Well, yeah, they did. A lot, actually." She hummed softly, thinking of the small brunette eagerly telling her about his day before being shoved against the wall by some brute. "But he stuck with what he could do, what he was a natural at, and he got some recognition eventually. Lost a leg on the way...but that's a story for another time." She grinned, seeing both kids' eyes widen in astonishment. "It's alright, we make...we used to make fun of him a lot over it. Heck, he joked about it too. It was a running joke between all of us."

Will smiled, sitting back with his hands supporting himself. "So he...he got to be someone, finally."

Astrid nodded. "Yeah. But don't think it has to happen. Sometimes it's okay if you're not someone. My friend, he became someone by being himself. Be yourself before anything else." She let out a small laugh. "I know that sounds ridiculously cheesy, but it worked for him."

And Will reminded her a lot of her Hiccup in his younger, awkward years.

While Max reminded her a lot of herself.

Damn, was she getting old?

"Thanks, Astrid." Will grinned at her and she grinned back, crossing her arms.

"Don't worry about it."

"You're so cool," Max breathed, leaning forward, "can you...teach me? How to use the axe?"

"Me too!"

Astrid smirked, resting her head in her hands. She was bonding with them! Well, not all of them, but two fifths of them! That was real progress! She was definitely going to proclaim this proudly to Steve. "If you can teach me to skateboard and you can take over my drawing lessons, sure."

They both laughed - and she was really thankful that she had asked for the lowdown on them before coming here.

The rest of the time passed, for the most part, uneventfully. They all got together to watch Star Wars - which Astrid had zero interest in, but that was when she took the time to relax, so it was okay - and there was no arguing.

Mike still had yet to warm up to her, but Dustin and Lucas were trying their best (which she was grateful for). And Max and Will had seemed to have accepted her, which made her beyond elated.

By the time Ted Wheeler came back, Astrid was really looking forward to seeing these guys again. Maybe she could get on Mike's good side by convince Hopper to let him and Jane see each other…

"Thanks again, Astoria," Mr. Wheeler said, taking out his wallet.

She bit her tongue - that was the third time he'd gotten her name wrong - and then raised a hand. "Steve said he didn't take any money."

"Yes, you're not Steve, though, are you?" he asked, chuckling at his own joke.

He didn't take no for an answer (he'd probably been put up to it by his wife) so Astrid took the five dollars and left the house after saying goodbye to the kids.

They liked her, for the most part. It was a victory.

It felt significantly less colder, now that she was walking home.

 **Next chapter: Astrid just wants to focus on what the teacher is saying, but that's difficult when Steve Harrington is pressing a note into her hand every minute.**

 **Please send in requests!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Good Students And Note Passers**

 **Requested by ashleybenlove on Tumblr. Hope you like it!**

Under normal circumstances, Astrid would have loved to have a seat next to the boy she liked. It would have made looking at him easier, maybe bring a blush out of her if he looked at her while she was answering a question, and would generally bring a nice set of butterflies to keep her busy if that class was dull one day.

But when that boy was Steve Harrington, it was not normal circumstances.

She looked at him a lot, sure. But that was usually just to send him exasperated looks for poking her, or for doodling on the paper he was supposed to be taking notes on.

The only time she blushed or got the ever so hyped butterflies were when Steve would get her in a particularly ticklish place, or make her exclaim something out loud and cause the entire class to look.

She was attracted to probably the most irritating guy in Hawkins.

For the first five minutes of Pre-Calc, he didn't do anything. She glanced at him a few times, and he was actually writing, although he was taking some time to write on another piece of paper as well. Whatever. Twice the notes, less left for him to copy from her later. Not that she minded, but it was nice to see him stepping it up.

Or, she thought he was stepping it up. The next thing she knew there was a crumpled piece of paper pressed in her hand.

A note.

He had passed her a note as though they were in fifth grade. The nerve of that boy.

 _._

 _this class is so boring and i dont know how u stay awake ast_

.

Above the words was a drawing of a nail bat and an axe.

Thor, was this what her life was now? Reading boredom notes that were specifically labelled for him and her? Listening to the ramblings of a teenage guy - who she liked very much, mind you - was not how she had expected to spend her high school career. Of course, she was being totally dramatic over a note, but she wouldn't have been if he hadn't given her the fucking note in the first place.

Trying to pay attention, Astrid scribbled back as quickly as she could, looking back and forth between the note and the board.

 _._

 _Odin above, let me focus, or I will punch you so hard once we get out of class._

.

Really, she didn't think it would work on him. Steve knew her well enough by now to know that she made a whole lot of threats she didn't carry out. So it wasn't surprising when the stupid ball of paper found its way into her palm again.

 _._

 _1 u dont use grammar in notes u freak and 2 i dont care how in touch with vikings berk was_ _there is no way u guys seriosly said stuff like odin instead of saying fuck_

.

Astrid rolled her eyes, hurriedly writing the new stuff on the board before she wrote back.

 _._

 _Okay, first of all, I said "fuck" all the time, but we really did use the Norse gods as swears. Fishlegs was literally the only one in the gang who never swore. And second, it's spelled "seriously." I love grammar more than I love you._

.

It was after she gave it to him that she realized she shouldn't have written that last part. She hadn't meant it, but it had just come out. She was just...endeared by him, and they were joking around, and it just slipped out onto the paper.

She heard Steve scoff first, but then he went quiet, and she saw his cheeks redden lightly. It was a relief more than anything, at least he wasn't looking confused or upset.

 _._

 _love u 2 ast little early 4 that though dont you think?_

 _._

 _Shut up, I didn't mean it, it just came out._

 _._

 _U wrote it how did it just come out_

 _._

 _I'm sorry you're not having your fantasy of me hopeless confessing all my love for you come true, Harrington._

 _._

 _ill get over it if u give me a kiss_

 _._

Astrid's eyes flew to him, and he was grinning at her, albeit a little nervously. His arms were crossed and he was slouching, a starch difference to her sitting up straight with her arms on the table.

He wanted to kiss her? Or he wanted her to kiss him? (Same difference, really.)

Either way, kissing just wasn't something people who weren't in a relationship did. (There was that one time her and Ruff had kissed, but that had just been some nice experimentation).

Oh, how was she supposed to focus on whatever the teacher was saying now? Harrington had put the idea in her mind, and now she wanted to, wanted to - to snog the stupid smirk off his face. She wanted to kiss him.

Holy Freya, she really wanted to kiss him.

.

 _Where did that come from? I thought we weren't DOING that, Harrington._

 _._

Steve was smirking to himself as he wrote back, which made her nervous, at the very least, but also tingly.

.

 _your the one who said u loved me, hofferson_

 _._

 _Thor, Loki, Odin, and Freya above, I didn't mean it. And it's "you're."_

 _._

 _YOU'RE thinking about it arent you?_

 _._

He blew her a kiss when she glanced at him, and Astrid's face burned. It really wasn't good that he knew how to make her squirm in her seat. She was supposed to be the confident one. So Astrid didn't answer, deciding to just shove the paper in her pocket. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Steve pout, slouching even more.

After the bell rang, she grabbed her bag and hurried out, clenching and unclenching her fist. Steve was not good with words at all, he was the type to come up with horrible rhymes on Valentine's Day, and yet "ill get over it if you give me a kiss" had her undone.

"Astrid!"

Steve showed up next to her, panting slightly as he caught up. She kept her eyes forward as they walked, not looking at him.

"So?"

"So what?"

"So, do I get the kiss?"

Astrid scoffed, feeling her stomach flip and biting her lip. "Why do you wanna kiss me anyway?"

"I mean…" She wasn't looking at him but she knew he was smiling like a doof. "You spend weeks with yourself and tell me you don't wanna get hot and heavy."

Astrid nearly choked on her words, finally facing him. "You're impossible."

"But you love me," he said with a grin wider than before, nudging her gently.

"Jesus, Odin, holy Balder and Tyr above." She swung to stand in front of him, her bag slipping from her shoulder to her arm as she cupped his cheek and pressed a kiss to his lips. "I don't...fucking...love you."

Steve let out a laugh between the kiss, using one arm to steady her around the waist. "You are such...a nerd, Hofferson," he mumbled, his smile apparent.

She pressed him against the wall by the shoulders, making sure that boy got the kiss of his life. If he was going to drive her crazy then by all the gods in the universe, she was going to do it right back.

When they pulled away, there were some whistles from passing students, but Astrid didn't stop to listen to any comments - she just slipped her bag back up, turned on her heel, and walked away, hearing Steve let out another laugh behind her.

"Maybe I am, but you love me."

 **I didn't...expect it to end like that, but I'm oddly satisfied.**

 **Next chapter: Steve comes for his regularly scheduled nightly visit, but he sees a side of Astrid that she prefers to keep hidden.**

 **Please send in requests!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Definite Blast From The Past**

The paper crinkled under her hands as she swallowed, trying to steady her breathing.

She had kept it all in. During class, nothing. During work, nothing. During basketball, nothing. It could stay like that. She didn't have to freak out. She didn't...shouldn't...

Astrid shut her eyes.

It was okay. It was fine. Nothing would happen, her parents weren't even there, they were on a two day trip. It wasn't a failing grade.

But it wasn't a good grade, either. Not according to her standards.

Tears pricked at her eyes, and soon enough they were falling, dripping down her cheeks and onto the test paper. That familiar empty, hollow feeling rose up in her chest and choked her from inside as she covered her mouth with her hand.

No. No, the last time she had let this happen, the girl two seats across from her had snarked, "What a drama queen, I'd kill for her brains," and she was right. She was right. Astrid Hofferson was a drama queen, a brat, an overachiever, and she knew it. But she hated it, gods, she hated it so much.

The first loud sob escaped from her mouth as more tears started pouring down, hot and fast. She was overreacting. Whose fault was the grade anyways? It was her's, she wasn't...wasn't good enough, didn't study enough, she just wasn't enough at all.

What kind of...bitch...got upset with a good grade just because it wasn't a great grade? Who spiralled down the panic road if the first digit on the exam paper was below a nine? Why was she like this? What was wrong with her?

There was a knock on the window.

Fuck. She shut her eyes and stood up shakily, blinking rapidly as she slowly went to the window (Steve never used the door anymore). She was fairly good at pretending like she hadn't been crying, but it usually took her a minute, not two seconds.

So when she opened the window, she avoided looking at Steve, who started talking as soon as she could hear him.

"Okay, so you'll never believe what I saw on the way here."

"Yeah?" she breathed, swallowing as he climbed in. "W-what did you see?"

"It was this weird car, it looked like someone had taken a branch and beaten it, but - are you crying?"

Astrid shook her head, a lump in her throat. She didn't trust herself to say anything. He saw. He knew. He was going to see her for the real overdramatic mess that she was.

"You're crying," Steve said, his mouth hanging open slightly. "You're crying."

She clenched her fists, looking down. No point hiding it now. With a trembling finger, she pointed to the discarded exam on the bed. As Steve picked it up, she faced her mirror, wiping her cheeks furiously.

"An 84? Ast, this is…" He trailed off when she looked back at him, dried tears still on her face and her eyes a blotchy red.

"It's not...good enough," she breathed, shaking. Now he was going to call her crazy, say that she was totally insensitive to students who actually got bad grades, laugh at her.

He did none of those things. Instead, he stood up and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his chest.

For some reason, that made Astrid let out another choked sob as she pressed her face in his shirt.

Was pity worse than rejection?

"This kind of thing happen before?" he asked quietly, and then she understood.

He knew she was spiralling. That she was having a...a panic attack. That tone...he definitely knew. That was a tiny bit of relief.

"Once every…" She bit her lip as he pressed a soft kiss to her hair. "Every two months? At least."

"How do you usually deal with it?"

"Well...the gang...they know how to...how to calm me down and all that shit." His question was probably about after she moved to Hawkins, but there was no answer in that case. She hadn't dealt with the attacks, they dealt with her.

"Okay...okay, one second." Steve pressed her closer, and while it would normally feel suffocating if someone tried to do that, he was wearing a shirt with a thin material (even though it was cold) and his scent was nice, so it wasn't all bad. And it was him. He was an exception to all her rules so far anyway.

But that didn't mean he was supposed to do what he did next.

She heard some flipping of her phonebook, and then all of a sudden he was pressing numbers, making Astrid turn her head in alarm.

"W-what are you doing? Who are you calling?"

He smiled as the phone rang. "Hiccup."

"What!?" Astrid looked up at him in horror.

"Yeah, he can help you through this -"

Oh gods, she was going to burst into tears again. "No, no, Steve, you don't get it, I haven't -"

" _Hello?"_

Astrid froze, but her eyes welled up. It was his voice. Hiccup. Her Hiccup. It was him.

"Hey, is this Hiccup?" Steve asked, still rubbing her soothingly as though keeping her warm.

Of course it was Hiccup. Who else would sound so nasally and so perfectly remind her of Berk?

" _Yeah. Uh, who is this?"_

"Uh, I'm a friend of Astrid's. Maybe she told you? Steve Harrington?"

"No -" she began, but Hiccup beat her to it.

" _I haven't talked to Astrid in a while. What happened? Is she okay?"_

Now Harrington was looking at her with a strange look on his face and that combined with the concern in Hiccup's voice was way too much. Astrid shook her head and buried her face in his shoulder, her chest heaving.

"Yeah. Well, no. She's fine, but she's kinda freaking out, man. She got a grade back today. It's a...not a low test grade, but, like, you know -"

" _Not a great test grade. Is she there? Can I talk to her?"_

Steve pressed a kiss to her temple and brought the phone to her ear. She looked up, shaking her head, but he just kissed her cheek again and smiled encouragingly.

Astrid held the phone, taking a deep breath. "Hello?"

It felt like she was drowning.

" _Astrid?"_

"Hiccup," she mumbled, closing her eyes tightly. "Oh gods, I am so sorry -"

" _Ast, we don't need to talk about that right now. Are you okay? Take a deep breath. In, then out. In front of your friend."_

Astrid looked up at Steve, who mimicked taking a breath himself, as though she needed a cue.

Maybe she did. In, then out. In, then out.

" _Alright, what was the grade?"_

Hearing his voice helped calm her down, and she squeezed Steve's hand as she said, "84. I know, it's not bad -"

" _You know I would never tell you that. I know you think you can do better. I know you can do better. You're Astrid Hofferson. But you also know that everyone goes below their expectations sometimes. I have, you have. It happens, Astrid. The next test you have, you're gonna do so well even you'll be impressed."_

She let out a weak laugh. "How do you know?"

" _Like I said, you're Astrid Hofferson. You twisted a bully's arm and got him in trouble in the same day. In third grade."_

This time even Steve laughed, looking at her with a knowing look. She took another deep breath - in, then out - and then whispered, "Thanks, Hiccup."

" _For you, milady, anything."_ Astrid could almost see him, his eyes always appearing brighter when he was convinced he had to cheer her up, his rough hands holding her smoother - and softer - ones. The way he smiled, the way he laughed, for a moment it was like Hiccup was there.

And for another moment, it was like the whole gang was there. Ruff offering her a drink, Tuff slinging an arm around her shoulder and telling her that as her absolute best friend, he had an obligation to make sure that she wasn't upset. Snotlout going through the test and pretending like he knew exactly what had went wrong and offering to help her while Fishlegs scoffed behind him and gave real advice.

Oh gods, she really wished they were here.

But then, in that image, there was Steve Harrington too, laying his head on her lap and singing Old Time Rock n Roll as though he was starring in a music video, hair flopping back and forth.

If the gang wasn't here, at least he was.

" _Astrid? Will...will we talk later?"_

"Yes," she murmured, biting her lip, "I promise. Thank you. I'll call. Tomorrow?"

" _Tomorrow. It's nice to hear your voice, milady."_

"It's nice to hear yours too."

" _Tomorrow, then."_

"Tomorrow. Bye, Hiccup."

" _Bye, Ast."_

The line went quiet, and slowly, Astrid put the phone down on the back on the receiver. She didn't move just yet, though, and neither did the boy embracing her.

They were quiet for about a minute until Steve said teasingly, "So, milady?"

She let out a breathless laugh, wiping her eyes and pulling back. "Only he calls me that, Harrington. Well, occasionally Tuff too, but it's not your thing."

"I thought Ast was my thing." He crossed his arms and pouted (so over exaggeratedly that she knew he was trying to make her laugh). "But no, he calls you that too."

"You're ridiculous."

"But you love me," he grinned as he repeated his new favorite line, and this time, she didn't protest. Maybe he was right. Maybe she did love him, in some way. Who knew?

She wasn't spiralling anymore.

"I'm guessing you want an explanation." Astrid sat down on the bed, beckoning him to join her.

"As to why you haven't talked to your supposed best friend in the world?"

Steve snorted, easily laying down with his head on her lap. "Yeah, an explanation would be nice."

"Well…" She stroked his hair and hummed in thought for a few seconds. "Hiccup and I broke up about a week before my parents told me we were moving. It wasn't messy, but...when we were together, we kind of...left the rest of the gang out. Like, we were in our own little world. So things were already...shaky. Even after we stopped dating and I started packing, they wouldn't leave me alone about it." She sighed, taking a few strands of his hair to make a braid. "Eventually, it got bad enough that I blew up at all of them, even Hiccup, on the day I moved. I told them I didn't need him or them, and before you tell me how fucking stupid that was, I know." Steve only smirked, not saying whether he'd meant to say it or not. "But I'm...proud, alright? I didn't have the gall to call and apologize."

Steve reached his hand up to see her handiwork as he said, "You moved here a little more than a year ago, didn't you? It was about a week before Will went missing."

"Two weeks, but I'm surprised you remember at all."

"All I know is that one day this know-it-all girl plops down in some of my classes and she raises her hand no matter what the question is. She's gorgeous, although, of course at the time the defining trait is just being annoying."

"Your defining trait is still being annoying, Harrington," she shot back, tugging on his hair gently as she took out the braid, only to make another. "But to get back on topic, yes. I haven't talked to them in over a year."

"No wonder you're so fucking cranky all the time," Steve remarked, earning himself a smack on the shoulder. "Your orgy party was taken away!"

Astrid gaped even as she laughed. "Oh, yeah, never heard that one before. My orgy party includes you now, you know."

"I knew you were just trying to get in my pants this whole time."

Astrid leaned down and kissed him as he was getting out the last word, and he hummed and smiled against her lips as he kissed back. Neither of them attempted to move anything but their lips - it was meant to be a lazy kiss, and it was enjoyable. Steve made it enjoyable.

He pulled back, first, gazing in her eyes intently. "You feel better now?"

"Not better enough to talk about why I keep kissing you when we're not dating." She smiled and bit her lip. "But better about my test grades and my old friends? Yeah."

He smiled genuinely, sitting up and yawning before falling back on the pillow. "Your parents are on that trip for the whole weekend, right?"

"You can sleep over," Astrid said, already knowing where this was going, and before she could process it, added, "I want you to, actually."

Surprisingly enough, he didn't comment or make fun of her. He must have been getting tired, because he just got under the blankets and outstretched his arms. She took the offer, shivering when his warmth came in contact with her ice cube of a body.

After a few minutes, he mumbled sleepily in her ear, "You look pretty when your friends make you smile."

Astrid snapped out of her thought process for the calls she would make to the gang tomorrow, and looked at him. His mouth was slightly open, he was looking comfortable, and extremely cute.

"What about when you make me smile?"

There was no answer. Steve was asleep.

 **Okay, so since this is the last day of midterm week, I thought it'd be easy to write Astrid panicking over tests but my exams went pretty well, actually, so...that's good but it didn't fuel writing that much, pfft.**

 **Next chapter: Astrid talks to her best female friend on the phone...and the topics vary considerably.**


	15. Chapter 15

**On The Road-Phone**

 **Requested by ashleybenlove on Tumblr**

 **I was originally gonna make this just Ruffnut and Astrid, but I left myself with gang feels after last chapter, so enjoy a short chapter with calls from all of the gang and nothing but dialogue, which also includes what Astrid's getting up to in Hawkins while she's getting caught up with her best friends (who Astrid is talking to should be fairly obvious each time).**

"Okay, I'm going to guess you got a...98."

"94. You exaggerate so much. When we were dating, you told my biology teacher that I'd get nothing but hundreds. On the first day!"

"And the best part was, you aced the first exam! So I was right!"

"You failed it because you were up late helping me study just so you would be right!"

"Okay, sue me, I really wanted to prove your worth."

"You wanted to back up your claim and you know it, Haddock."

"...Maybe I did. But I didn't expect that everyone would literally start making bets on it! There was a lot of pressure on me for you to pass!"

"You're a dork."

"I'm your dork - sorry, automatic response."

"Oh, come on. No special someone to fill the void to fill the hole in your heart yet?"

"Heather did flirt with me like a week ago."

"Wait, wait, Heather? Nerdy, quiet, shy Heather who I went out with in eighth grade? Hang on - shut your mouth, you know I'm bisexual, Steve, wipe that smirk off your face, you didn't realize anything new, keep studying - sorry, Hiccup. So, Heather? Shy Heather...flirted with you?"

"She's changed. Become closer to Dagur."

"Ugh."

"Come on, Ast. He was getting better even before you left."

"You know I can't forgive all the shit he pulled on us. Especially you. There's this asshole here, Billy Hargrove. He reminds me of Dagur. Deranged, Hiccup. Mad."

"I'm not saying you need to forgive him. But you might be interested in knowing he asked me out too - what happened?"

"I - I spit out water. Did you just say Dagur - Dagur the Deranged - asked you out?"

"It might have been a joke. But him and Heather are in some sort of duel nowadays."

"Thor, one year I'm gone and you've got sister and brother fighting for your heart. Do you...are you going yes to say to either of -"

"No. Actually...I was gonna...you know, ask out -"

"Fishlegs."

"How did you -"

"Heather might have changed over the year, Hiccup, but you haven't - yes, he's bisexual too, Steve, for Odin's sake, study!"

"Okay, enough about my love life. What about you?"

"Well, Steve likes me and I want to bang him but he's hung up over this girl and I'm hung up over you - I tell him everything! He's my best friend! Don't be so dramatic!"

* * *

"I'm still mad at you."

"And yet you're talking to me."

"I'm only doing it because Ruffnut threatened to hit me if I didn't."

"Uh huh. Sure."

"I'm not kidding, Hoff. I am really pissed at you."

"Will a sorry cut it?"

"A sorry doesn't even begin to cut it. You have to come here, at the very least. In person."

"Tuff, the minute you can convince my parents, I'd love to -"

"More than a year, Astrid!"

"I'm sorry!"

"That's not enough! I...I was crying a lot the first two months! You know how much I hate crying! You know!"

"Tuffnut...I'd never make you cry intentionally…"

"Except that time you screamed 'tears' at me really loudly."

"You can say it now, that's great!"

"After a lot of therapy!"

"Did...is Snot in therapy too?"

"You haven't talked to him yet?"

"I did - but he didn't want to talk about anything but how apparently my new friend's hair was gorgeous."

"Oh yeah, your boy toy."

"He is not my boy toy! He's my friend!"

"Who loves telling you that you love him."

"You have been asking about me, haven't you?"

"Shut up, Hoff, I don't like your face."

* * *

"Hey, babe. Did you miss me?"

"We talked yesterday, you doof."

"Yeah, but I know you missed me in that short time."

"If I say I did, will you not ask about Steve?"

"Wait, what? Why not? You make the guy out to be really cool."

"Because that's all you like talking about now. And besides, he's not cool. He's a fucking - shit, sorry, there are kids here - he's a dick. Wait, fuck, that's a bad word too, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is, you cuss machine. Why are there kids at your place?"

"Max, hold it with your hand over there, like that, yeah. Sorry, Snot, they're here cause I'm giving them lessons."

"Lessons on what?"

"Great! Now, let Will take a try at it - lessons on using an axe properly."

"Wait, wait, holy Freya, you're letting kids touch your axe?"

"I started training when I was ten. I'm not going to let them hurt themselves."

"I wasn't surprised over your irresponsibility, Ast, though I'm definitely disappointed. I'm more hung up on the fact that you let someone else touch your precious axe, and some children at that."

"They're eighth graders, dipshit."

"Language!"

"Wait - see, see? Isn't berating me more fun than asking me when I plan to date Steve Harrington - Mayfield, you do not get to smirk at me, why don't you guys ever act like you're thirteen?"

"But I wanna talk about your lover."

"Jesus. I actually wanted to ask if you're in therapy."

"Nah. My dad said it was -"

"For the weak. Thor, your dad's an asshat."

"Aren't there still kids there?"

"Yeah?"

"Then watch your language!"

* * *

"So, when do you plan to visit?"

"Fish, I told Tuff, the minute you guys can convince my parents, I'll be there."

"Your parents hate us."

"They don't hate you."

"That's because adults tend not to hate me. Benefits of being a suck-up."

"Oh, don't call yourself that. Hey, tell me, is it true that Dagur's being super nice to Hiccup now?"

"Oh, yeah. Tries to carry his books to class and everything."

"Son of a - he remembers that he literally hated his guts a few years ago, right?"

"Maybe that was just his way of showing he liked him?"

"If he's harassing my boy then I'm going to knuckle fist him the minute I come back."

"But that won't be soon, will it?"

"...No, probably not. But we'll see each other again. I promise."

"I'll hold you to it, Astrid. I...I like that Dagur's decent now, but he still hasn't gotten a good punch for everything he put us through. Especially Hiccup."

"Ooh, someone's protective of their boyfriend."

"You're the one who said you wanted to knuckle fist him! He'll definitely leave Hiccup alone after that. How's the asshole at your place?"

"Who, Hargrove? He doesn't bother me, probably doesn't know my name. It's Steve he bothers, always ganging up on him during basketball practice from what I've heard."

"Aw, that sucks. Doesn't he retaliate?"

"Sometimes. I'm not sure."

"Do you think he should?"

"Hey, if Hargrove does anything to really hurt him, it won't be Steve's retaliation he has to worry about."

"There's the Astrid we all know and love."

* * *

"It's okay, Mom! Just send Nancy up!"

"Who's Nancy? Girlfriend?"

"Yeah, with a space in between, Ruff. She's just here so I can lend her a book."

"Fuck. Instead of getting good people to replace us, you've befriended a nerd? What the hell, Astrid?"

"You are a nerd, don't even try to deny it - hey, Nance, the book's right here."

"Oh, is she cute? Is she single? Are you two gonna hook up?"

"Yeah, I'll see you at school - what the shit, Ruff? I'm half sure she heard you!"

"Did she blush and smile? Because that means she's ready for the hooking up to begin."

"She's got a boyfriend!"

"Ugh, these Hawkins folk are no fun. What about you? I hope you've at least bedded Steve once?"

"No -"

"Twice?"

"Nonce."

"Damn, your life is depressing. Why go on about his hair and eyes and scent if you're not gonna sleep with him?"

"Are you sure it was me who said all that, or Snotlout?"

"I mean, it could have been both."

"Steve Harrington is not on the market for Snotlout to take."

"But you're not dating."

"But we want to."

"Then do it!"

"We can't."

"Fuckity fuck, woman, I'd just ask someone to bed you. You're delving deep into no-fun hell."

"Okay, listen, as much as I joke about it, I don't wanna just sleep with him and get over with it. I want to be with him."

"Well, if you bring that into the mix, you're setting yourself up to get screwed over at some point."

"Ruff."

"Yeah, yeah, it's sweet and all that. Tell me more about Nancy."

 **I know Hiccup's was longer, but I really did get tired around writing Snotlout's part, so sorry!**

 **Next chapter: Steve shows up, but at the wrong time, to the wrong people, and looking like he just took a dip in a river of blood.**

 **Send me requests, please!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Pharmaceutical Parents**

Her parents were home, and it was a complete bummer. It was a very rare and special night. She had no homework and nothing to study, and neither did Steve (they had done it after practice). If he had been able to come today, they could have actually hung out without worry about school for once. And it was a Friday.

If there was one day Astrid really truly didn't like her parents, it was today.

She was doing laundry when the doorbell rang, and her mom called out, "I'll get it!" about ten seconds before she shrieked.

Both Astrid and her father ran to the door. Her mom was still standing there with a hand on her heart, right in front of the door.

And there was Steve.

But he didn't look like Steve.

He was bruised, and bloody, and he looked completely stricken when he turned his face towards her. His eyes were puffy and his sleeve was torn lightly.

"Who the hell are you?" her father said loudly as he scowled.

"I know who he is." Her mom snapped her fingers. "You're - you're the boy who took Astrid to a party that one time. Stephen."

"Steve," Astrid cut in, with an edge to her voice. This was definitely not the time to interrogate him.

He stepped back, swallowing nervously. "Sorry - I didn't see the car - I mean, shit - I...thought Astrid was home…"

Oh right. Her parents didn't know Steve came to her house every night. And now he was fumbling. But damn it all to hell if she would let him be stared down at by her parents while he was bruised and bleeding.

"Come inside, Steve." She reached out and took his hand, stopping his rambling.

"Astrid," her dad said tightly. "We should talk."

"Dad, he's -"

"Let's talk," he repeated, "now."

Astrid clenched her fist, stepping forward and murmuring, "Stay here," before she closed the door and faced her parents with a challenging look.

"Astrid, your mother said this boy took you to a party." Her father frowned. "And now he shows up here after some...some you want to let him?"

"Is this boy your boyfriend?" her mother asked, looking as though she would rather set herself on fire than let Steve inside.

"No!" She looked, horrified, at both her parents. "He's a friend! And he's bleeding! He's hurt! Let him in!"

"Well, tell him to go to another friend. Or, better, just sever ties with him, so this kind of thing doesn't happen again." Her mother nodded as her father spoke. "I don't want you interacting with these kinds of boys anyway. Remember Snotlout? Friends like that will only get you in trouble."

Astrid didn't say anything, just stared at them with a quiet rage. She knew, she had experienced them acting like this before, but it had been a while, and so the behavior she had come to get used to was now making her furious again.

"Go tell him, Astrid."

She turned on her heel and went to her room, grabbed her bag, and then went back to the front door and opened it, purposely slamming it hardly behind her. Her dad yelped loudly, but that was the last thing she heard.

"Come on."

Steve was staring back and forth between her and the door, and he stepped forward, rubbing her arms. His lip was split and - Thor, he looked so bad. "You should go back."

Ignoring the stupid suggestion, Astrid grabbed his hand and led him out on the sidewalk, only slowing down when she saw him wince. "What happened? Was this Hargrove? I swear, I will beat the shit out of -"

"Wasn't him," Steve mumbled, squeezing her hand, "it was Dad. My dad."

Astrid gasped softly, turning to him with wide eyes. He was staring back with honest fear in his eyes, holding onto her hand like life support. And then he shut his eyes briefly, as though he knew she could see his emotions playing out.

After a few seconds, she kissed his knuckles gently, and murmured, "Let's get to the pharmacy."

"And then what? You have to go back home."

"No, what I have to do is make sure you're okay. That's my priority right now, okay? Trust me, I've stayed out all night for a hurt friend before." She sighed as they walked. "Snotlout's dad is a total ass. He used to show up beaten black and blue, and...and my parents knew - they knew it was his dad doing it, and never did anything about it."

Steve was looking at her, but she was looking ahead with a steely expression. "I'm sorry, Astrid."

"Oh, no." She turned her head and kissed his cheek, whispering, "Don't. I shouldn't even be talking, should I? Steve - does anyone know? You...holy Thor, you deal with Hargrove at practice, and...does Nancy know? What about your mom, does she do anything? How do you -"

He interrupted her line of thought by turning her around and hugging her so suddenly she had to take a few steps back. He was clutching her as though something horrible would happen if he let go. He wasn't crying, but he had his face buried in her neck and she could feel his warm breaths on her skin.

"You know. You know, that's enough. No one else needs to. He doesn't do it often."

Well, that was one difference from the Jorgensons. "That doesn't make it okay."

"No, but it makes it tolerable. I'll be in college soon, Astrid, or, even if I stay, I can move out. Maybe I'd work under him, but that'd be better than living with him."

"I don't want you with him at all," Astrid mumbled, running a hand through his hair. "Why is it someone's always trying to hurt you, Harrington?"

"Maybe I -"

"If you say you deserved it each time, then so help me. Come on, let's get you some painkillers and ice packs."

The woman behind the counter gave them odd looks, but neither of them paid her any mind as they got what they needed. Without Steve noticing, she threw in one of those spicy chips he liked and dug into her purse to pay for it. She had money from family and odd jobs saved up since the seventh grade, so it was really no big deal.

Still, Steve insisted on paying her back, even as she pressed an ice pack to his forehead.

"Steve, if you give me money, I'll rip it up in front of you."

For the first time that night, he smiled, looking at her. "You're crazy, Astrid Hofferson. Absolutely mental."

"And you're...under my wing now. My protection."

"Is that right?" He quirked a brow at her.

"Oh yeah. Steve Harrington, they'll say? No, we don't touch him, we don't want to lose our heads - fuck!"

"What, what is it?"

"You…" Astrid put a hand over her mouth. "You walked to my house! You didn't have your car!"

He immediately looked to the side, biting his lip. "It's not that long a walk, Ast."

"I know your stomach or leg hurts, I saw you wincing!"

"I'm sorry, okay?" He ran a hand through his hair desperately. "I wasn't thinking clearly, I just had to get out of there, and - and I didn't check for your parents' car and thought it would be okay to come in through the front door, so I'm sorry for getting you in trouble too, and I'm sorry for walking, and I'm sorry for -"  
"Stop apologizing!" she yelled out.

"Then what do you want me to do!?"

"Thor fucking dammit, Steve!" She reached forward and wrapped her arm around his neck to pull him in, shaking. "I want you to stop apologizing! There's such a thing as too much, and when you start taking blame for stuff you didn't fucking do, you've crossed the line! I want you to let me take care of you! I want you to feel safe! I want to have friends whose parents aren't shitheads!"

Steve didn't say a thing, just wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder, looking exhausted, but relieved at the same time.

He didn't need to say anything. She wasn't going to change her mind - gods, she was so sick of people hurting her friends.

They made their way to a hotel. Steve barely said anything as they booked the room and got in, but when they flopped on the bed, he turned to her and said, "Astrid."

"Hmm?" She touched his cheek, stroking his jaw with her thumb.

"I love you."

Astrid's eyes snapped to his, and the gut-wrenching way he was staring at her. When she opened her mouth, he shook his head quickly. "You don't have to respond. I - I know. You don't love me, even if I joke around and say you do. Believe me, I don't need you to say it. And I know we're not dating. But I love you as a friend. More than a friend. Whatever you want. I love you."

Steve closed his eyes, seemingly satisfied with his slurred speech, but she wasn't. It was too soon, too much.

But then, he was the one who said she didn't have to respond.

So she didn't. She just leaned forward, pressed a kiss to his lips, and fell asleep.

 **Okay, at this point I'm just itching to write prompts so you can send in AU requests to. That can be anywhere from "Astrid is there for the events of Season 2" or "Modern AU," please I just need to write for this ship I love it.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Friends and More**

 **Requested by ashleybenlove on Tumblr.**

 **This is a Modern AU! It still has just-friends Stevestrid, though. And...and I'm gonna try and write from Steve's point of view this time. Oh boy.**

"Is he online yet?"

"No," Astrid mumbled, with her tongue sticking out as she typed furiously on her laptop, "I think they're having some issues."

Maybe the world was on his side, for once. If Steve was lucky, he could get out of really talking to Astrid's friends. If she had been nervous when meeting the kids (and she told him as much), then it was nothing compared to the absolute panic he was feeling at the thought of...the gang not liking him.

It was a deep rooted fear, and it kept causing him to run his palms against his legs, and run his hands through his hair (the hair game had to stay strong). Astrid loved her friends like nothing else. If they didn't like him, showed the slightest notion of hating him…

Well, he could kiss any relationship with Astrid Hofferson goodbye.

"I've got it!" Astrid shot him a grin as her laptop started ringing, and in a split second, he snapped his fingers and said he needed water.

She gave him an odd glance as the gang's shouts of greeting rang in the room, right as he left. It wasn't as though he was lying. He really did need water. His throat was parched even after swallowing a few thousand times.

But he didn't actually go and get it, because he was much more content listening to Astrid outside her room instead.

"Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Well, aren't you gonna say something about my hair?"

"Snot, it looks worse than Hiccup's."

"Thank you, Astrid - oi!"

She let out a laugh, and Steve rested his head on the wall. He took a deep breath. He could do this. They were just people.

Yeah, that sounded like garbage. They were a lot more than people, they were Astrid's world and - Jesus Christ, he was sweating. He was legitimately sweating because he didn't want to lose the strange bond they had built up. He didn't want to lose Astrid. Everything would go to shit if he lost Astrid.

"Steve!" she called out, breaking his line of thought. "Come on, the gang wants to see you!"

Oh great, it was make or break time. It was all going to go to hell. People didn't like him. And Astrid's party? They were the cool nerds, the ones who were smart and looked hot while they were at it. He was some dumb jock whose hair was stuck in the 80s. They were definitely going to hate him. He was dead. He was so dead.

"He's here," Astrid claimed, looking eager as she tugged his arm and brought him next to her. "Meet Steve Harrington, who is, according to him, the love of my life."

His cheeks burned as she said it and the gang laughed, but he allowed himself a smile and a quick glance at her. She winked, slipping her hand into his (which went unnoticed by the camera) and Steve took a deep breath.

"Hey, guys. Astrid's told me a lot about all of you."

The blonde girl - Ruffnut grinned at him. "Did she tell you about -"

"No!" Astrid cut in, and this time she was the one who was turning red. It was a little amazing how she knew what the other girl was going to say, but he supposed that happened when you shared, well, basically life together.

"Oh, sure, you can tell him everything about us, and you can tell us he wears Farrah Fawcett spray, but no secrets about you?" Snotlout peered into the camera disapprovingly.

"You told them what!?" Steve turned his head in horror to look at Astrid, who at least had the decency to bite her lip guiltily.

"Dustin told Will, who told me."

"Okay, Steve." Hiccup grinned at him. "Besides the hair care, and the babysitter thing, we don't know much about you."

"Don't forget how much Astrid wants to fuck him."

Fishlegs facepalmed, shooting a side glare. "Yes, Tuffnut, Hiccup was being decent and not talking about Astrid's sex life."

"Astrid's the one who's got no filter!" Tuff groaned, throwing his head back in frustration. "If she can talk about how much she'd love to see if tugging on Steve's hair makes him moan -"

\- _that_ got both their cheeks red pretty quickly -

" - then I don't see how me talking about it is any different!"

"It's different because you're calling her out," Hiccup said with a smile as he nudged Tuff. "She definitely wants to have sex with him."

Astrid scoffed, but the deep red tint on her cheeks didn't match the stern tone she was speaking in. "Yeah, we have a history, Haddock. Everyone knows, no need to rub it in."

Red-cheeked and flustered Astrid was great. It wasn't hard to get her like that, but it was different like this, with people who knew just where her pressure points were. They also had no limits - he knew fully well that this particular group of friends shared everything with each other (which meant he would definitely be part of an orgy one day, and he had accepted it because Astrid's gang was attractive). These friends didn't have a line to cross. There was no line drawn in the first place.

As Fishlegs attempted to break up an argument between the twins, Steve looked over at Astrid and murmured quietly, "Your friends are great."

She hummed, a smile growing on her face as she looked at him, appreciation written in her eyes.

"Oh, you have no idea."

 **This one's a little short, because I kinda ran out of ideas, but not to fear, the gang is coming in the next arc of chapters!**

 **Next Chapter: It's the first day of Spring Break and Astrid has a big surprise waiting for her, willing to whisk her away for three days. The only problems are homework, her parents, and the nagging feeling like she's forgetting to do something.**


	18. Chapter 18

**The Camping Trip Part 1**

 **Requested by thewarriorofberk on Tumblr.**

On the last day of school before Spring Break, it wasn't Steve who was at her locker, but Nancy.

Astrid smiled at the girl as she closed her locker. Even though she definitely needed a larger filter with Nancy than she did with Steve, she was definitely likeable. And about as passionate about literature as Astrid was. So was Jonathan. They were both really pleasant company.

"Is Steve still sick?"

Astrid nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear as they walked out. "Yeah, although he's getting better. He was definitely well enough to come through my window last night."

"He climbs through your window now?" Nancy asked, an amused look on her face. "He didn't do that until we had...well, uh…"

Astrid wanted to ask if she was trying to say they had sex, but, remembering her filter, kept quiet and let her continue.

"Well, we made out a couple times." Nancy blushed and avoided Astrid's eyes for a few seconds, as though the blonde would be jealous that Steve had - surprise, surprise - kissed people before her.

"He's been climbing through my windows for a long time, Nance." Astrid shrugged as they walked to the Wheelers' house. Thanks to Hopper, she knew most of the area really well now, and wouldn't get lost. She could easily walk back to her own house from the Wheelers'. Since it was Spring Break and Hopper wanted to spend more time with El while he wasn't at the station, she was free for the week.

"I thought you said you two weren't dating?"

"Friends can be really close too," she hummed with a fond smile. If she could have been given a dollar everytime someone asked if she was dating one of her Berk friends, she'd be rich enough to buy the Great Hall.

"Astrid, you guys kiss. And he looks at you -"

"The way he used to look at you?"

"No," Nancy insisted, "a different way. And I don't know if you know, but you look at him in a different way too."

Astrid gave her an odd look. She didn't look at Steve any differently than anyone else. She wasn't so obvious. But apparently, she was, because Steve's ex out of all people claimed she was.

"When he laughs, you get this look on your face, as though nothing makes you happier than hearing it."

"Okay, Wheeler, I know we both love Shakespeare, but we don't need to be overdramatic."

"I'm not being overdramatic." Nancy nudged her arm. "I'm just saying that maybe you guys should try dating. You'll see that things won't really change that much."

"Maybe," she muttered, shoving her hands in her pockets.

Even after they arrived and Nancy went inside, she was pondering the question.

Were they already dating? Did they have to say it out loud for it to be considered official? Steve definitely made her feel things, and he said he loved her, and she had kissed him multiple times…

And if that was all as friends, they would probably get into a lot more romantic situations if they put a label on their relationship.

And why were they holding back anyway?

Oh, right, because they weren't over their exes. Or he wasn't. She hadn't really been paying attention to how Steve looked at Nancy (as opposed to Nancy herself, who was apparently very studious about all this), but that didn't mean he wanted to start dating again.

Astrid groaned lightly. Boys were confusing.

She took her time trudging back to her house, only to be surprised when she saw her parents' car parked in the driveway. Her parents home this early? That seemed unreal.

Even with the confusion, there was still a sinking feeling that she wouldn't be able to see Steve today. Why did the world hate her on her free days?

But then Astrid opened the door, and all thoughts of Steve flew from her head.

Right there, by the table, was the gang.

"Happy Early Birthday!"

"Holy Freya!"

Tuffnut came to her first, his face breaking out into a grin as he ran over and hugged her tightly, scooping her in his arms and spinning her around the best he could.

And reminding her that her birthday, was in fact, tomorrow. And she had completely forgotten.

"Hoff! What took you so long?"

Astrid barely had time to answer as she was smothered by warm bodies, with Fishlegs planting a kiss on her cheek. She was gaping, a little breathless.

"How...how are you guys here?"

"Well," Hiccup began, in that face where he knew he was going to regret saying something, but planned on saying it anyway. "There's this thing called a car."

Astrid punched his shoulder and tugged him close, closing her eyes as the gang surrounded her.

It took her awhile to notice not only her parents standing to the side, but Hiccup's father, Stoick Haddock.

"Chief." She smiled, looking at the man who had been more of a father to her than her own parents. He was one of the reasons she wanted to be a cop - because Chief Haddock was legendary in Berk.

He was also a big man, and she felt it as he crushed her ribs in a hug.

"Happy birthday, lass. How have you been?"

"I've been...good…" She looked at her parents, who were standing uncomfortably against the wall, and then Astrid understood.

They were just intimidated by Stoick. But what was the intimidation for? She was elated, on cloud nine.

But why were they here?

* * *

They were all going to go camping. Somehow, in some way, Stoick had managed to convince her parents to let her come with him and the gang for three wonderful days in the woods. It sounded like heaven, although it was definitely ironic that she was going the same days her parents would be staying at home.

It was in an area that was about a four hour ride from Hawkins. Apparently, there were mountains, rivers, animals, and a whole lot more to see.

Or at least Hiccup told her as much as they both drove to the store so that Astrid could get some boots for hiking. She was holding Hiccup's cat, Toothless, in her lap as he drove, laughing and catching up with him in person.

"So, the only thing you need is boots, right?" Hiccup gave her a glance as she stroked Toothless's fur.

"Yeah." She smiled at him, her heart warming at the familiar sight. "I have my tent at home, I just need to pack, and we can leave tomorrow morning. And…"

There was something nagging at the back of her head, something she had to do...but whatever it was, it wasn't coming to her. Maybe just something she had to pack, in which case she'd remember it when she actually got to it.

"We're not gonna get a lot of quiet time," Hiccup mumbled, grinning to himself (which meant he wouldn't want it any other way). "So I thought I'd ask now. Have you been doing okay? I know you haven't had another panic attack since that night, but still."

Astrid nodded, humming as she scratched Toothless's neck and watched as the cat fell limp in her hands. "I've been doing okay. It's not that bad here."

For some reason, that brought her back to the thing she was forgetting to do, but it still wasn't coming up.

At the store, they ran into Jonathan, Nancy, and Will, who were there to get Will some new shoes, and Astrid made introductions. Will had a knowing look - he probably recognized the "friend" she referenced so often.

"You made Astrid's axe, didn't you?" he asked, grinning.

"Yeah, I did." Hiccup grinned back, and Astrid exchanged a fleeting smile with Jonathan. "Oh, Nancy, I know you said you were almost done with that book, but I won't be at my house for the next three days. I'm going camping with the gang. My parents will be, but you know..."

"Thanks for telling me." Nancy smiled as she ruffled Will's hair. "I'll give it back after you come back. And get you a proper birthday gift, now that I know it's your birthday tomorrow. Better late than never, right?"

"You don't have to."

"I want to."

Nancy Wheeler could be awfully nice. Jonathan and Hiccup got to talk to each other while her and Nancy helped Will find shoes, before moving on to Astrid. It was a quick process; all hiking boots looked the same, really.

The nagging feeling didn't leave her the whole rest of the day. The gang hadn't bothered bringing their bags out since they were leaving the next day and with no help whatsoever from her parents, Astrid set out sheets and blankets on the floor so everyone could crash before their trip.

Ruffnut was in her room, and the two girls stayed up the latest, talking into the night. It was strange. She felt like a teenage girl (although all the things they discussed were beyond the usual teenage girl scope).

"You are such a dork, Astrid."

"You're crazy, Ruffnut."

"Don't wear out my name, pretty lady."

Astrid snorted, but by this point she was dozing off, her hand finding Ruff's and squeezing it gently.

That was the last thing she remembered doing before falling asleep. Early in the morning, before the sun was up, she was being poked awake by Snotlout, who made sure to do it in the most ticklish places.

Stoick said there was no need to wake up her parents (who couldn't be bothered to say goodbye anyway) and that he would get them all breakfast on the road, so they piled into the car, Astrid squeezing between Fishlegs and Tuffnut and resting her head against Fishlegs' shoulder, ready to sleep the whole ride.

This was going to be great. She was going to have the time of her life. It was the gang. How could she not have a great time? The only bad thing was that she wouldn't get to see Steve for a few days -

Astrid shot up, startling the boys on either side of her.

Steve.

She hadn't told Steve she was leaving.

So that was what she had forgotten to do.

Well, fuck.

 **There'll be more of the gang in the chapter after the next one. :D**

 **Next chapter: Steve doesn't know whether it's just post-sickness, but he can't find Astrid anywhere and so much alone time forces him to do some heavy thinking.**


	19. Chapter 19

**The Camping Trip Part 2**

 **Requested by thewarriorofberk on Tumblr.**

 **This chapter is just a bunch of Steve angst I hope you guys like it.**

Now that he was no longer sneezing every few minutes, Steve was ready to come back to the world as a functioning human being. It was a real bummer that he'd missed the last day before Spring Break (teachers never did anything on that day!) but at least he could enjoy the week.

So he stated Saturday waking up late, making sure his dad wasn't home, and then kissing his mom on the cheek after they both had breakfast.

Spring was definitely his favorite season (but if they were in the winter season, then it was winter). It definitely wasn't fall, because fall was when shit happened, and summer left him spending too much time in the house.

By the time he got into his car, Steve had the week planned out. Astrid had basically threatened him not to come to her house until he got better - which was really backwards, seeing as he felt better after another midnight talk. But she couldn't complain now. Now sickness was gone and Astrid Hofferson was going to spend the day with him if it killed her.

After all, it was her birthday, and her parents sucked, so after she made her daily calls to her orgy party, they could go out, go to an amusement park, get dinner.

It seemed a lot like a date.

Sure, Astrid was something else, and sure, by this point, he didn't have a Nancy-sized hole in his heart. It helped seeing her happy with Jonathan. But Astrid didn't want a relationship - she had said she wasn't ready. And sure, she kissed him - a lot - but they were just that. Kisses.

They put him on cloud fucking nine, though, so today was the day to return the favor.

Steve saw her parents' car, but he didn't need to go in, just get her out. So he climbed his way to her window, peering into her bedroom. It looked neat, but it was very empty.

He waited a few minutes, but she didn't show. His arms were becoming sore.

Maybe she was just tolerating her parents downstairs?

Well, there was one way to find out. This would be hard, but it was her birthday. He couldn't let her sit and be bored.

So he knocked on the door, taking a deep breath as Mr. Hofferson opened the door. The man's eyes narrowed when he saw him.

"Is Astrid home?" Steve asked, swallowing as his eyes bored into him.

Mr. Hofferson clicked his tongue. "No. Maybe you can tell me what you need, and I'll do my best to help you."

As he stepped back, he had an image of Astrid's dad eating pizza while laughing at him instead of Astrid herself. It was a horrifying image.

"It's just...you know, sir…" Steve ran a hand through his hair. "It's her birthday today, and I wanted to...wish her a good one," he lied, biting his lip. "Where is she?"

It was a harmless question. He didn't expect anything but a grumpy answer to come out of it, least off all Mr. Hofferson's hands grabbing his collar and shoving him against the brick wall of the house. Steve's eyes widened as the man glared at him, snarling, "Listen to me. I don't want some trash like you interacting with my daughter. We've worked hard to get her where she is" - Astrid had worked hard, not them, the liars - "and I'm not going to have you messing it all up. Understand?"

He didn't answer, but he must have shown a good amount of fear in his eyes, because Mr. Hofferson let him go, satisfied.

"Stay away from my daughter, and stay away from my house," was the last thing he heard before the door shut.

Steve trudged back to his car, feeling a mixture of confusion and anger.

It wasn't Astrid's dad who got to decide who Astrid hung out with, especially since he was a horrible dad. And he knew a thing or two about horrible dads.

And...the way he had grabbed his collar was oddly similar to how Tommy had more than a year ago. Right up in his face. Threatening.

 _"You gonna fight me now too? Cause you couldn't take Jonathan Byers. So I wouldn't recommend that."_

But maybe it wasn't a good idea to focus on that now. He still had to find Astrid. Maybe Nancy knew where she was. Maybe she was with Nancy, like the weirdo who got along with his ex like she was.

* * *

Nancy wasn't at the Wheeler house, but the kids were. Mrs. Wheeler let him into the house with a smile - by now, he was the de facto babysitter and she trusted him enough. Maybe Astrid was with the kids. She'd definitely taken a liking to them.

There was an intense Dungeons and Dragons marathon happening, though, and obviously, Max wasn't there, just the four boys (they seemed to hold D&D sacred and Max wasn't into it anyway). No Astrid either.

"Hey, Wheeler deluxe." Steve had taken to calling Mike anything but his first name, and Mike was a surprisingly good sport about it. "Where's your sister?"

"Out," he responded, and then, as an afterthought, "oh, king supreme."

Steve smirked at him lightly and put a hand on Dustin's shoulder. "Do you know if she's out with Astrid?"

Mike shrugged, but it was Will who answered, looking confused. "Astrid's not here. She went camping with her friends."

"What?"

Camping? Friends? What?

"Yeah, her Berk friends." Will's brows furrowed as he tilted his head. "I met Hiccup yesterday, they said they were leaving early this morning."

Now, all the kids looked puzzled. It was well known now that Astrid was a constant in Steve's life, and if anything, would have told him she was going out of town.

Steve was just the tiniest bit irritated that Will met Hiccup before he did.

Lucas spoke up. "She probably just forgot to tell you."

"But she told Will," Steve said, trying to keep the hurt out of his voice.

"Well, actually…" Will shifted uncomfortably. "She told Nancy and Jonathan. I was just there."

Nancy and Jonathan. Astrid had told them, but not him.

He didn't want to jump to conclusions, but his mind didn't share the same sentiment. Just how close was he to Astrid? She'd become like his best friend, but best friends didn't just go camping without telling each other.

Or maybe they did. How would he know, he didn't have that many best friends.

Quietly bidding the boys goodbye, Steve got out of the Wheelers', brushing off Karen's request for him to stay for lunch.

Maybe best friends ditched each other for other best friends. But she hadn't ditched him, she wasn't gone forever. She was gonna come back.

But she didn't care about him.

He didn't want to go down this line of thought.

He was so deep into it that it took him a few seconds to notice Billy's car parked next to his, right as the asshole was coming out. Billy shot him a smirk.

"Hey, Harrington."

"What are you doing here?" Steve asked immediately, blocking his path to the Wheelers' front door.

He hated Billy. He really, really hated him.

"Don't get so defensive. My dad wants Max home." He rolled his eyes. "Just tell her to get her ass out here and nothing has to happen."

The Mayfield-Hargroves had to stop sending Billy to get Max. Not that it mattered this time.

"She's not here."

"Listen, Harrington -"

"She's not here," Steve repeated tiredly - that was two threatening tones in one day. "You know what? I'll find her. Probably know more about her favorite places than you do."

Billy stared at him coolly, but he ignored the gaze as he walked over to his car, intent on finding Max before her stepbrother did. Then Billy spoke.

"Where's your guardian angel?"

"My what?"

"You know. Hofferson."

Steve's hand stilled on the car door handle, and he exhaled deeply. "None of your fucking business, Hargrove."

It wasn't that late into the day, but he was too tired to deal with this.

"You know she send me glares every time she sees me?" Billy laughed behind him. "Oh, yeah, I'm so scared of her."

He should be, Steve thought bitterly. Astrid could pound Billy into the ground if she was given the chance.

"Can't fight your own battles, so you have her do it. I hear you even practice basketball with her. I mean, I won't lie, she's a hot piece of work -"

"Shut up," Steve muttered, his hand gripping the handle tightly, "just shut the fuck up, Hargrove."

" - but I guess she's just like Nancy the slut Wheeler if she's lowering herself down to your level."

Steve turned around, his head pounding in anger and his fists clenched. He didn't know how Billy knew about the Nancy thing, although it was probably Tommy who told him, the ass.

That was one of the most stupid things he had done, and he regretted it every time he went by that movie theater, but he could make up for it by making sure no one ever called Nancy that slandering name again.

"Hargrove, I swear to God, you say one more thing about Nancy or Astrid and I'm going to beat your ass."

Billy laughed, his tongue darting out to lick his lips. "Or maybe your guardian angel will. She looks ready to spit fire when she looks at me.: He opened his own car door, and said, "You better go find Max. If I get there before you do, it won't be good for her."

With that, he was in the car and driving away.

Steve got in his own car, trying to clear his head. He could think about every feeling rising up in his chest later. He had to find Max - he really didn't want Billy finding her. That kid was tough, but she didn't deserve the shit she got at home. She had both Billy and her stepfather to deal with.

The people around him really needed to stop having dad who were pieces of shit.

* * *

After dropping off a thankful but reluctant Max, Steve rode round Hawkins, and then went home.

There was still half an hour of daylight left, but there was nothing to do anymore. All of his plans had gone to shit, Astrid wasn't in Hawkins, and he'd had to deal with Billy.

Then, when he came home, his dad was passed out on the couch, with a bottle of beer next to him and his mom had a visible bruise on her neck.

Steve would have smashed the bottle against the wall in frustration if he hadn't wanted to alarm his mom. They both went to his parents' room and Steve got her water.

"I promise," he mumbled, "I'll get you out of here soon."

His mother smiled, leaning her hand up to place against his cheek. "You've changed so much in the past year. It's like you're all grown up. Didn't you have a birthday to celebrate?"

"No. Um, she wasn't there. I forgot she was out of town," he lied easily, leaning into her hand, "I'll celebrate with her later."

His dad had been getting more and more aggressive lately, instead of once in awhile. And if Steve wasn't home, his mom paid the price. He could still remember the one time he had failed a quiz when he was ten - because he just couldn't understand the information, no matter how hard he tried - and his dad had just taken a belt and told Steve to take off his shirt.

He'd begged. He'd really begged him not to. But the belt had cracked against his back anway, and his younger self had started crying as he felt blow after blow. Right when his back felt as though it was on fire, his mother had rushed in the room, getting him away and telling him to go upstairs.

Then he'd heard her crying.

After making sure she was asleep, Steve went into his own room, and flopped onto the bed, sighing into his pillow.

Every single damn feeling was making itself known now. Hurt. Exhaustion. Anger.

Billy's words kept playing in his mind, about Astrid being his guardian angel. She swore a lot more than he'd expect from an angel, but she was definitely fiercely protective.

And damn, he wanted to be protected.

But her parents hated him and she didn't even care enough to tell him she was leaving and she didn't want to be in a relationship but he did.

He really, really did.

Steve clutched the sheets and closed his eyes tightly. It had been a shitty day.

 **See, like I said. Just angst. Angsty angst.**

 **Next chapter: Astrid spends her three days with the gang as they relive the old days, and some secrets spill out.**


	20. Chapter 20

**The Camping Trip Part 3**

 **Requested by thewarriorofberk on Tumblr.**

By the time they got out of the car, Astrid's limbs were sore and stretching seemed like Thor's gift to man.

She loved her friends beyond anything - but she still valued her sanity, and spending four hours in a car with six people and a cat wasn't the most ideal (it helped that Stoick had stayed in the driver's' seat). Now that they were out and at the campsite, it promised to be a lot more fun.

Except for the fact that she hadn't told Steve where she was going. That was one setback. A major setback. She had...had forgot him?

No, she hadn't forgotten him. She was just caught up in all the excitement. And Steve would find out, eventually, from Nancy or Jonathan or the kids. Not that he would be happy finding out but -

Hadn't she proved she was a good friend? That she lo - liked him enough? One mistake didn't mean she didn't care about him.

Fishlegs' hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality as everyone started taking their gear out. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," she said but it was him - he saw right past her. So she didn't elaborate on the lie, but rested her head on his shoulder. "I should have told him."

"Yeah," Fishlegs said, as always well-meaning but insensitive. "That would have been smart, since you said he seemed to have love issues -"

"Thanks, Fish. That's just what I had to be reminded of."

"Sorry."

"Is Astrid brooding again?" Tuff called out, and Fishlegs gave her a grin before answering.

"More like pining!"

"Jesus Christ," Astrid hissed, scowling at the both of them. Out of nowhere, Ruff's arm was around her neck and the girl was whistling.

"Look at that, she's not using Norse curses anymore." She grinned and pressed a kiss to the other girl's cheek. "Are you still our Astrid or have you become Hawkin-anized?"

The made up term was more insulting than what Ruff had actually said about her. "That is so not a word."

"Definitely still our Astrid," Hiccup chimed in, leaning against a tree with an amused look on his face.

There was something that was beyond pleasant about them calling her theirs. Whatever it was, it brought a nice heat to her cheeks.

But that nice feeling was replaced with the one she knew she would have once Steve asked why she hadn't bothered to tell him before she went.

No. She was not going to throw away three days to relax with the gang just thinking about Steve. She was going to be happy, she was going to have fun, and she was not going to feel guilty over Steve Harrington. She wasn't even going to think about Steve Harrington.

She was going to have fun.

* * *

There was many reasons that Astrid wished that Stoick Haddock was her father. And one of those reasons was that he was perfectly content to just let them go off on their own once they had set up camp.

So the first thing they did was hit the water. Literally.

Six cannonballs later, and they were splashing around, just like old times. Toothless hissed in displeasure when some of the water splashed on him, but he still stayed next to it, walking around as though he was their guard.

Hiccup pulled her down under, and she held in a laugh, tackling him. Snotlout joined at some point, and the three were soon engaged in an underwater brawl, which ended with all of them having a coughing fit after resurfacing (they stayed down for quite awhile, since all of them were too stubborn to come up first - Hiccup eventually conceded).

After drying up, they changed, and then Astrid had the pleasure of laying her head on Tuff's head as they set up a fire and told stories. Toothless thought it was fun to walk all over her face at one point.

The best part of that was watching Hiccup scowl over how they decided to make it a competition to see who could tell the best scary story ("it's not always a competition, guys!").

She definitely won. And not just in terms of the competition. She was with the gang - and winning was kind of their thing.

* * *

The next day started off wonderfully lazy, which was a nice contrast from her dreams, which had been unpleasant even though she had slept next to Ruffnut.

They weren't about Steve, weren't reflecting the guilt that her subconscious was filled with. No, instead it was something out of a horror movie - creepy, borderline terrifying nightmares.

Whatever. As long as they weren't real.

Ruff was still sleepy, so she was resting her head on Astrid's shoulder as they ate breakfast. It consisted of fish and chicken - the latter of which Tuffnut refused to touch. She vividly remembered his pet, but instead of asking why she hadn't come along, decided she didn't want an hour long rant about it.

"Sleep well, Hiccup?" Snotlout asked all of a sudden, with a grin.

The auburn haired boy raised a brow. "Yes, I did?"

"I bet. You too, Fishlegs?"

Tuff snorted in his food, and all the teens surreptitiously looked at Stoick to make sure he wasn't listening. Hiccup frowned, leaning in.

"Keep your voice down," he hissed, "and, for the record, I have no idea what you're talking about. Neither of us were sneaking around last night."

Tuffnut glanced at Astrid with a confused look. "Was it you, Hoff?"

"No," she said at the same time as Ruff, who must have known the question would be directed at her next.

They all shared apprehensive looks, and then Hiccup, not taking his eyes off them, called out, "Hey, Dad! Were you out of your tent last night?"

Stoick came over to sit with them, humming lightly - unaware of the tense faces surrounding him. "No, I don't think I was. Why, did you guys hear someone?"

As they shared quick glances, not wanting to alarm him, Snotlout hastily said, "Oh, hang on. I completely forgot I went to the bathroom last night. Sorry, guys."

Stoick didn't notice the lie - besides Hiccup and Fishlegs, the gang was very good at lying - and Stoick began to eat.

Astrid locked eyes with Hiccup, and they nodded at each other, not needing words.

* * *

"I mean, are you sure you guys heard something?"

"Listen," Tuff snapped, crossing his arms, "just cause you guys are tired from looking around all day doesn't mean you get to doubt Snotman's and my hearing. There was something creeping out last night, around our campsite. Maybe Hiccup and Fishlegs just don't wanna admit that it was them -"

"Me and Fishlegs were not sneaking out!" Hiccup exclaimed for the umpteenth time. Astrid sighed, holding his hand in the dark.

There was a light shuffle and they all turned their flashlights at the source in a scared frenzy. But it was only Toothless, staring at them in a way that was rather disapproving for a cat.

"Dad just said he was going to bed, he didn't say we had to," Hiccup said defensively, as though Toothless was going to scold them. The feline merely scuttled over, nuzzling against his owner's leg until Hiccup picked him up and started stroking him.

"Shh, it's okay, bud. It's okay."

Fishlegs was staring at something, his eyes narrowed. Astrid put a hand on his shoulder and he mumbled, "Hey, what is tha -"

It leapt out and jumped at them.

Fishlegs screamed as Astrid pushed the both of them down. She heard the others yelp too, so she scrambled up wildly to stare at -

A demogorgon. But smaller than the one near Steve's house.

Demodogs! Dustin's voice called out in her ear, and she could swear her heart stopped beating for a moment.

It turned on all fours to face her. They were now all standing in a circle, backing up with Hiccup holding Toothless like his life depended on it. They all looked downright horrified.

The demodog growled at her, pawing its foot.

Had it...followed her here? Astrid's heart started beating a mile a minute. What was going on back home? The gate was closed. It was closed.

But if one demogorgon could sneak out somehow, so could more.

Oh gods. The kids, and Nancy, and Steve -

The demodog jumped, everyone else screamed her name, and she ran forward and punched it.

She punched it hard enough to go flying in a tree above Fishlegs' head, and it went limp afterwards, falling to the ground.

Trying to threaten the gang, her family, and implying that Steve or the kids might be in danger must have been the most idiotic thing the little monster had done in however long of a fucking lifespan it had.

"What was that?" Snotlout screamed hysterically, his eyes wide as he looked at Fishlegs, who usually had the answers.

(None of them looked surprised in the least that she had just punched a dangerous animal).

Fishlegs opened and closed his mouth, but it was Astrid who answered, with a snarl.

"We need to get back to Hawkins. Now."

 **oKAY oh boy I am so looking forward to the next chapter because all the characters are gonna come together and i am so eXCITED -**

 **Also I did not plan to take it this way at all (and I don't think you did either, Erna). But one train of thought led to the other and now shit's gonna go down.**


End file.
